The ShivSena had voted in favor of the bill in Lok Sabha but remained absent in Rajya Sabha after being pressured by the Congress and NCP
Mumbai: After giving the opposition meet called by Congress to discuss the issues of the Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens a miss, the ShivSena on Monday declared that CAA in its current form would not be implemented in Maharashtra.
The rumors that were sparked by ShivSena’s flip-flops on attending the meeting were kept aside by the senior party leader Sanjay Raut blamed “some miscommunication” and said all three parties in Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi are on the same stand.
ShivSena, earlier in the day claimed that it was “not aware” of the opposition parties meeting convened by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and that it had not received any formal invitation.
“Our party was not aware of such a meeting. We were not invited to it. So, we have not taken any decision on it so far,” ShivSena’s group leader in Lok Sabha Vinayak Raut said to Media.
But some observers said that the decision not to attend the meeting was just an attempt to buy more time to firm up its stand on CAA, which has sparked massive agitation across India.
The ShivSena had voted in favor of the bill in Lok Sabha but remained absent in Rajya Sabha after being pressured by the Congress and NCP.
In Mumbai, prominent ShivSena leaders chose to remain silent on the sensitive issue and said only the ShivSena Lok Sabha Party chief would decide and speak on the matter.
The ShivSena is ruling Maharashtra in alliance with Nationalist Congress Party and Congress since November 28. This is the latest instance in recent weeks that the ShivSena has adopted a divergent stance on certain issues that created ripples in the three-party alliance.
However, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray has repeatedly made it clear that the Maharashtra government will not allow injustice to any section of society if the CAA/NRC/NPR is implemented.
The Maharashtra Congress has held several agitations on the CAA and NRC and for the first time, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar will lead a rally to oppose these laws on January 24 in Mumbai.
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