JD(U)’s Kishor, Varma criticise CAB, party says stand unchanged

PATNA: A day after JD (U) national vice-president Prashant Kishor posted a strong tweet criticising his party’s decision to back the Citizenship Amendment Bill, party general secretary Pawan Kumar Varma, too, urged party chief Nitish Kumar on Tuesday to reconsider the decision to favour the bill.

Members of JD (U), an ally of BJP, voted in favour of the bill in the Lok Sabha on Monday and the bill is likely to be tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

However, JD (U)’s parliamentary party leader and Munger MP Rajiv Ranjan alias Lallan Singh dismissed all speculation over differences in the party over CAB on Tuesday.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha during the debate on CAB on Tuesday, Singh had said the party supports the bill and it is in favour of secularism. But hours after Lallan’s statement in Parliament Kishor vehemently criticized the bill and even made a veiled attack on the party’s leadership, including Nitish.

“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 (sic),” Kishor tweeted late on Monday evening.

Even as Kishor’s statement on CAB sparked speculation, JD (U) general secretary and national spokesperson Varma added fuel to it by posting a tweet on Tuesday morning.

“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 (sic),” Varma tweeted.

Varma also told a news channel that JD (U) had a contrary opinion than ally BJP on several other sensitive issues in the past, including Article 370 and instant Triple Talaq, and CAB is also not in sync with JD (U)’s own constitution.

Incidentally, JD (U) was initially opposed to the bill, which was approved by the Union cabinet on December 4. But senior functionaries of JD (U) announced last week that the party will support the bill in Parliament as per Nitish’s decision.

The statements of Kishor and Varma have not gone down well with JD (U)’s senior leadership. “Kishor crossed his limits this time by questioning the decision and authority of Nitish. He will have to give some explanation regarding such public defiance. Both Kishor and Varma could have told Nitish about their views on CAB, if they had reservations about it but this was not the way to express it. Whatever they have said is their own opinion, party’s official stand continues to remain what MP Lallan Singh said in the Lok Sabha on Monday,” a New Delhi-based senior JD (U) functionary told TOI.

Meanwhile, BJP’s Bihar unit president launched a veiled attack on Kishor, saying the latter only “does business” through politics. “Those who do business, definitely take care of the interest of their client. Nonetheless, I am not bothered about what leaders of other parties are saying, it is their problem,” he said.

A JD (U) state-level functionary termed the opinions of Kishor and Varma as reflection of internal democratic setup of the party. “Everyone is free to express their opinion inside the party but the official stand of the party is in favour of the bill,” he said.