BJP Manifesto For Lok Sabha Election 2024 Emphasises CAA Over NRC For Citizenship, Here' Why

The compilation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) has been dropped from the BJP's manifesto, which was released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 14. NRC was highlighted as a significant poll promise in the party's 2019 manifesto.

In the 2024 manifesto, however, the "implementation of the CAA" is mentioned. The manifesto stated, "We have taken the historic step of enacting the Citizenship Amendment Act [CAA] and it will be implemented to confer citizenship to all eligible persons."

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BJP Manifesto Shift: NRC Dropped, Focus on CAA for Citizenship

In 2019, the party manifesto emphasized the expeditious compilation of the NRC as necessary because "there has been a huge change in the cultural and linguistic identity of some areas due to illegal immigration, resulting in an adverse impact on local people's livelihood and employment."

It further stated, "We will expeditiously complete the NRC process in these areas on priority. In the future, the NRC will be implemented in a phased manner in other parts of the country," as reported by The Hindu.

Assam is the only state where the NRC, first compiled in 1951, was updated on the orders of the Supreme Court in August 2019.

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) notified the CAA rules on March 11, enabling the implementation of the Act, four years after it was passed on December 11, 2019, by both Houses of Parliament.

The CAA provides citizenship to undocumented migrants belonging to six non-Muslim communities - Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, or Christian from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, who entered India on or before December 31, 2014, and reduces the qualifying period for citizenship from the existing 11 years to 5 years, as per The Hindu reports.

There are fears and apprehensions that the CAA, followed by a nationwide compilation of the NRC, will adversely affect Muslims, as the CAA will benefit non-Muslims excluded from the register while Muslims will have to prove citizenship through documents.

In Assam, 19 lakh of the 3.29 crore applicants have been excluded from the NRC. Around 11 lakh of those excluded from the NRC are said to be Hindus who would benefit from the CAA by declaring that they came from Bangladesh before December 31, 2014.

As many as 83 people were killed in protests and riots from December 2019 to March 2020 in Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Meghalaya, and Delhi after the CAA was passed. After the violence, the government informed the Parliament that "till now it has not taken any decision to prepare the NRC at the national level" and denied that the CAA and the NRC are linked, as per media reports.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing a rally at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan on December 22, 2019, said there had been no discussions on an all-India NRC since the BJP-led government assumed power in 2014, and the NRC was implemented in Assam following the Supreme Court's orders.

However, a month ago, Home Minister Amit Shah, while replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha, said the "NRC process will be conducted across the country, and people from any religion need not fear."