Onus of saving India's soul on 16 non-BJP CMs: Prashant Kishore

Janata Dal-United Vice President and election strategist Prashant Kishore on Friday said that the onus of saving the soul of India lies with the 16 non-BJP Chief Ministers who have to operationalize the newly enacted Citizenship Amendment Act.

Kishore tweeted: "The majority prevailed in Parliament. Now beyond judiciary, the task of saving the soul of India is on 16 Non-BJP CMs as it is the states who have to operationalise these acts. Three Chief Ministers (Punjab/Kerala/WB) have said NO to CAB and NRC (National Registrar of Citizens). Time for others to make their stand clear."

His remarks came a day after Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee and Kerala's Pinarayi Vijayan said that they will not implement the "controversial act" in their states.

Earlier, Kishore, who had planned then BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's famous 'chai pe charcha' campaign had urged Bihar Chief Minister and JD-U chief Nitish Kumar to reconsider his decision to support the CAB in Rajya Sabha.

After the JD-U supported the Bill, he again took to Twitter and said: "Disappointed to see JD-U supporting CAB that discriminates right of citizenship on the basis of religion.

"It's incongruous with the party's constitution that carries the word secular thrice on the very first page and the leadership that is supposedly guided by Gandhian ideals."

On Thursday, Kishore also reminded the JD-U of the 2015 assembly elections and said: "While supporting CAB, the JD-U leadership should spare a moment for all those who reposed their faith and trust in it in 2015.

"We must not forget that but for the victory of 2015, the party and its managers wouldn't have been left with much to cut any deal with anyone."

"We are told that CAB is bill to grant citizenship and not to take it from anyone. But the truth is together with NRC, it could turn into a lethal combo in the hands of government to systematically discriminate and even prosecute people based on religion," he lamented.

The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday passed the CAB, two days after it was passed in the Lok Sabha on Monday. The CAB seeks to give Indian nationality to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

The Bill was vehemently opposed by major opposition parties objecting its nature and describing it "against Muslim community", which the government rejected saying it does not affect the community residing in the country.

Following the passage of the CAB there has been massive protests in the Northeastern region. Mobile and Internet services were suspended over the last few days in a couple of states.IANS