Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray Sunday said his stand on the CAA-NRC-NPR is well thought of and decided after holding consultations with the NCP and the Congress–the other constituents of the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.
After meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi as part of a scheduled visit on Friday, Thackeray said that no one needs to fear about the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and that the National Population Register (NPR) is not going to throw anyone out of the country.
Earlier, Thackeray had said that his government will not allow the proposed National Register of Citizens to be implemented as it would “impact people of all religions”.
The stand of Thackeray, who heads Shiv Sena, appeared at variance with the NCP and the Congress. “I have made my stand clear on these issues and I have also discussed it with the alliance partners Congress and NCP,” Thackeray said while talking to reporters on the eve of the Budget session of the state legislature.
Replying to a query on senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis’ statement that a state government cannot change the questionnaire of the NPR, Thackeray said, “Senior members of the three parties (Sena, NCP and Congress) can sit together and discuss about the possible complications in its implementation in the state.”
When asked about the National Investigation Agency (NIA) taking over the investigation into the 2017 Elgar Parishad case, the CM said he didn’t hand it over to the Central agency. “The Centre took over the probe as per law, but I am disappointed over it,” he said.
In a sudden move, the NIA took over the probe into the case last month. Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh of the NCP had said that CM Thackeray had overruled him in handing over the probe to the NIA.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar had also expressed his disapproval with Thackeray letting the NIA take over the case. The Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government had initially criticised the Centre’s move to hand over the case to the NIA.
The case under probe relates to alleged inflammatory speeches delivered at the Elgar Parishad conclave held at Shaniwarwada in Pune on December 31, 2017, which the police claimed, triggered violence near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial in the district the next day.
The Pune police have claimed the conclave was backed by Maoists.
PTI
