Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has assured Muslims that National Register of Citizens (NRC) would not be implemented in the state. Jagan Reddy gave the assurance at a gathering of Muslims in his native Kadapa district where he opened work on a steel plant on Monday (December 23).
"We are opposed to NRC. I assure the minorities that we will not implement it," he said, responding to the concern expressed by community leaders.
Sajjala Ramakrishna, political adviser to the chief minister also confimred saying that the CAA and NRC are distinct from each other. "The CAA is about providing the option of citizenship to minorities persecuted elsewhere, outside India. We have issued a clarification on the NRC to set at rest the apprehensions of the Muslim population in Andhra Pradesh," he said.
Andhra govt's stand on NRC
Jagan, as the Chief Minister is popularly known, said Deputy Chief Minister Amjath Basha had already announced the government's stand on NRC.
"We are certainly opposed to NRC and we will not implement it. This is my assurance to all Muslims in the state," he said.
Jagan's statement comes a day after All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi appealed to the chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to oppose NRC.
Jagan's YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) had voted for the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) in Parliament while Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) had opposed it.
(With agency inputs)
