Unhappy over the comments made by the senior leaders of the party – Prashant Kishor and Pavan Verma over the issue of party’s support to the Citizenship Amendment Bill, the JDU has reportedly sent notices to both leaders for opposing party’s decision to support the bill.
According to India Today, the JDU will likely to take action against its national vice president Prashant Kishor and senior leader Pavan Verma for deviating from the party’s stand to support the Citizenship Amendment Bill in the Parliament.
The notice comes days after two of the party’s senior leaders Prashant Kishor who is the national vice president of the party and national spokesperson Pavan K Verma had come out in the open against their party’s stand on the Citizenship Amendment Bill, stating that the bill was unconstitutional.
#CitizenshipWar
JDU likely to act against Prashant Kishor, Pavan Verma over their statements on CAB
More Videos: https://t.co/wMGGKJy9GN#ITVideo pic.twitter.com/okIpW2y7yk— India Today (@IndiaToday) December 12, 2019
The two JD (U) leaders had urged Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar to reconsider the decision to support the Citizenship Amendment Bill, keeping in mind the public sentiments.
Taking to Twitter, Prashant Kishor had said that the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill discriminates against the right of citizenship on the basis of religion. Prashant Kishor had further attacked Nitish Kumar for maintaining that his party’s move to support the Citizenship Amendment Bill was not in sync with the Constitution of JD(U).
Disappointed to see JDU 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.
— Prashant Kishor (@PrashantKishor) December 9, 2019
“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”, Prashant Kishor had tweeted.
Read: Citizenship Amendment Bill – Myths and lies propagated against it, and the facts
Echoing similar sentiments, Pavan Varma, a former diplomat and a senior JDU leader on Tuesday, had tweeted, “The (Citizenship Amendment) Bill is unconstitutional, discriminatory, and against the unity and harmony of the country, apart from being against the secular principles of the JDU. Gandhiji would have strongly disapproved it”.
I urge Shri Nitish Kumar to reconsider support to the #CAB in the Rajya Sabha. The Bill is unconstitutional, discriminatory, and against the unity and harmony of the country, apart from being against the secular principles of the JDU. Gandhiji would have strongly disapproved it.
— Pavan K. Varma (@PavanK_Varma) December 10, 2019
Following the rift within the party’s leadership, JDU state president and Rajya Sabha MP Bashistha Narain Singh had advised leaders to exercise restraint while airing their views.
“Our is a democratic setup. I will ask all leaders to keep their views on party forum and not toe a line which is different from the party’s official stand,” Singh had said on Wednesday.
Initially, the JDU was hesitant to support the NDA over the Citizenship Amendment Bill but had supported the bill just a day before it was tabled in the Parliament on Monday by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
After a long and heated debate, both the houses of Parliament has passed the Citizenship Amendment Bill. On Monday, the bill was passed in the Lok Sabha. The Rajya Sabha has passed the CAB with 125 votes in favour and 105 against. The Bill will now be law once the President signs on it.
The historic Citizenship Amendment Bill, after being passed by Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha both, paves the way for hundreds and thousands of persecuted minorities from the three neighbouring countries who have been residing in India for the past many years.
