NRC only after nod from top court: P Muralidhar Rao

Hyderabad: BJP general secretary P. Muralidhar Rao said citizens of the country would remain unaffected even after the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is implemented. “I fail to understand why some people are asking for citizenship for Pakistani Mulsims,” he said.

He was participating in an “open debate” on the CAA here on Friday.

Mr Rao said CAA would be implemented according to the Constitution. “Some people are opposing it claiming CAA is against the Constitution,” he said.

The BJP leader claimed that Mahatma Gandhi, during Partition, had said that Pakistani Hindus could always come to India if they faced issues in the future. He said that while his party supported the National Register of Citizens, it could only be implemented based on guidelines specified by the Supreme Court.

“Currently, we are talking about CAA. We are not thinking about NRC. In any case, NRC can’t come out of thin air. It can come only based on a law. Right now, there is no need to talk about it. However, we are ready to talk about it,” Mr Muralidhar Rao said. He added that how NRC would be implemented would be decided after the Centre discusses it with state governments.