Delhi Legislative Assembly Passes Resolution Against NRC & NPR

In a one day special session of the Assembly conducted to discuss the situation arising due to Novel COVID-19 and regarding updation of National Population Register, members requested the central government to withdraw the NPR and NRC.

A Resolution seeking Centre's clarification on NPR/NRC was tabled by Minister for Employment, Development, Labour, General Administration and Irrigation in Government of Delhi, Gopal Rai.

While introducing the Bill, Rai said that NPR is nothing but a backdoor entry for NRC. He said that the clarification given by Home Minister Amit Shah yesterday that NPR will not be used to form the foundation of NCR is purely misleading.

During a short discussion on the Delhi Riots in the Rajya Sabha yesterday, Shah had confirmed that supplying information/ documents for NPR will be optional, as was during the last NPR and that no one will be marked 'Doubtful' for the same.

Commenting on the same, AAP leader and Delhi's CM Arvind Kejriwal said,

"Yesterday, the Home Minister said that no documents will be asked in the NPR. He did not say that documents would not be sought in the NRC.

Do not live in this misconception that NRC will not. They will get NRC done after NPR. The President and the Home Minister had clarified that the NRC would remain."

Kejriwal pointed out that only 9 of 70 MLAs in Delhi's Vidhan Sabha had official birth certificates.

After a detailed discussion, the Assembly resolved to not implement the NPR or the NRC in the capital.

On December 31, 2019, the Kerala Legislature has passed a resolution requesting the Central Government to repeal the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019. The resolution stated that the CAA is against the principles of Secularism and Equality doctrine, which are parts of basic structure of the Constitution of India. The Kerala government has also filed a suit in the Supreme Court against the CAA.

Similar resolutions, disapproving of the CAA, have also been passed by the assemblies of Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Punjab and West Bengal. This is the first resolution however, which has been passed against the implementation of NRC and NPR.