While claiming that there was no need to fear the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray clarified that his government will not allow the proposed National Register of Citizens to be implemented in the State as it would impact people of all religions.

Mr. Thackeray on Wednesday also announced that he would be travelling to Ayodhya on March 7 and later go to Delhi to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He was reacting to the Centre’s decision to set up a Ram Temple Trust to build a Ram temple at Ayodhya.

“I can say with confidence that the CAA is not meant to throw Indian citizens out of the country. But, the NRC is going to impact Hindus as well,” said Mr. Thackeray, in the last of a three-part interview to Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana.

While he said that the CAA is not to throw anyone out of India, he also launched a sarcastic comment on the CAA when he said, “When they come here, will they get homes under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana? What about employment and education of their children? All these issues are important and we have the right to know.”

“As Chief Minister, I should know where will these people be relocated in my state. Our own people don’t have adequate housing. Will these people go to Delhi, Bengaluru or Kashmir, since Article 370 is now scrapped?” he wondered.

“However, the NRC will impact Hindus and Muslims and the State government will not allow it to be implemented,” he said.

Congress expresses reservations

Latching on to his remark that the CAA is not meant to throw Indian citizens out of the country, the Maharashtra unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) asked him to declare open and clear support to the controversial act facing opposition from certain quarters. “He should now declare open and clear position of supporting the CAA,” state BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari said in a statement.

Congress however expressed reservations over the CM’s statement. Maharashtra Power minister Nitin Raut said that the Congress has passed the resolution to not implement CAA and therefore the issue of implementing it in Maharashtra does not arise. “The issue will be discussed in the coordination committee meeting of the three parties,” he said.