Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Friday, in his first visit to the national capital after taking over the rein of the state. Talking to reporters after the meeting, Thackeray said he discussed the contentious issues of the Citizenship Amendment Act, National Register of Citizens and National Population Register with the prime minister.
The meeting assumed significance as it came amid the strain relation between the Shiv Sena and its ruling partners—the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party—over a host of issues, including the CAA and the NPR.
The prime minister has promised that there will not be a nationwide exercise to make people prove their citizenship through an NRC, Thackeray said.
“There is no need to fear the CAA. The oppressed minorities will be benefitted from the law. NRC will not be implemented across the country. If we see any dangers befalling the citizens, we will oppose it," Thackeray said, adding that the NPR will not throw anybody out of the country.
Also read
- Uddhav defends 'patriot' invocation instead of 'Hindu' one at INDIA alliance rally
- Uddhav's close aide MLA Ravindra Waikar joins Shinde-led Shiv Sena
- Sena vs Sena: CJI asks if speaker's decision didn’t contradict SC judgement
- ‘Charan Singh awarded Bharat Ratna for alliance with Jayant Chaudhary’, slams Sanjay Raut
Union Home Minister Amit Shah had announced in Parliament that the government was planning a pan-India NRC, a statement which was later refuted by the government in the wake of widespread anti-CAA protests.
The Shiv Sena and its ruling partners are not on the same page over these issues. While the Congress and the NCP strongly opposed the CAA and the NPR, Thackeray has extended his support to both the exercises.
The Sena's stand on the Elgar Parishad case, too, was at variance with that of the NCP.
Thackeray, however, dismissed reports of frictions among the coalition partners and said they would run the Maharashtra government for five years.
The BJP and the Sena had a bitter fallout post assembly polls in Maharashtra last year over the chief minister's post. The Sena later aligned with the Congress and the NCP to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in the state.
Thackeray said the prime minister had promised to extend all cooperation to the Maharashtra government.
The chief minister is also likely to meet Shah, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and BJP veteran L.K. Advani.
