BJP's CAA push ahead of Lok Sabha polls leaves NDA partners in a bind

With election season gaining momentum and the ruling BJP going ahead with its campaign over implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), its allies are in a bind as they find it difficult to agree with the BJP on the issue.

The discomfort among the BJP’s alliance partners is apparent in the NDA’s campaign in Bihar, where the JDU has decided not to go ahead with implementation of CAA.

“We are very clear that the BJP can go ahead with the campaign on CAA, but it will not be implemented in Bihar. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has already made his stand clear. This is not an issue in Bihar. Our effort here is to ensure good governance for the people of Bihar,” Mahabali Singh, former JDU MP, told The Federal.

JDU not on same page

Talking about the JDU decision, Singh said that while the BJP and JDU were NDA allies, the JDU was an independent political entity that took its own decision for the people of Bihar. “There has been no discussion on issues like these. We have a seat-sharing arrangement and we are contesting the election together as NDA partners,” he added.

The problem for Nitish Kumar-led JDU is that Bihar has nearly 18% Muslim population and the community has often voted for Kumar’s governance model in the assembly polls. Senior JDU leaders fear that the BJP’s decision to focus on the implementation of CAA would shift the Muslim votes to the Congress and the RJD in Bihar. JDU leaders feel that the erosion of a substantial voter base would impact their electoral performance, even though the BJP would largely remain unaffected.

Northeast allies differ

The pushback over the issue of CAA is not limited to Bihar. Several members of the NDA from the northeast have also conveyed to the BJP leadership that they are not in favour of implementation of the CAA in their respective states.

Among the most vocal allies is the National Peoples’ Party (NPP) in Meghalaya. “Our priority right now is the return of normalcy in Manipur, which seems to be taking a long time. We want peace and normalcy in Manipur. The issue of CAA is not of immediate concern because Meghalaya has a substantial population of Christians, so the NPP would not agree to its implementation. The issue has not even been discussed because of the priority in Manipur,” Yumnam Joy Kumar, former deputy chief minister of Manipur and senior leader of NPP, told The Federal.

While the implementation of CAA remains a matter of concern for most of the NDA partners in the northeast, their focus right now is to ensure return of peace and normalcy in the violence-affected Manipur. Senior NDA leaders from the northeast point out that they have categorically told the Union government and BJP leaders that peace in Manipur should be a priority for them.

“We have told the BJP leaders that we don’t have any problem with the implementation of CAA in other parts of the country, but it will not be implemented in Mizoram. We are very clear that this is not an issue in Mizoram and that it will not be implemented. We have no problem if the Union government implements it in other states,” K Vanlalvena, Rajya Sabha MP and senior leader of Mizo National Front (MNF), told The Federal.

Challenging times for BJP

The real challenge for the BJP in this election campaign is that most of the NDA partners have opposed two crucial policy decisions taken by the party. While CAA is the more recent issue, another matter that has bothered the NDA partners is the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC). The BJP remains isolated within the NDA on the issue of both CAA and UCC.

Political analysts believe that the decision of the BJP to focus on CAA could isolate it within the NDA. “The problem with the BJP’s campaign is that it is the only party that is talking about CAA. The BJP is not getting support from its own alliance partners at the time of campaigning. It is true that NDA partners have not been vocal in speaking against CAA because they are dependent on the BJP, but the lack of support is visible in states,” Abhay Kumar Dubey, author and professor at CSDS, told The Federal.