The Citizenship Amendment Act “does not discriminate on the basis of religion,” government sources told NDTV today, clarifying on a criticism that Opposition has been levelling since the draft bill was drawn up. The classification on basis of religion is due to the “neighbourhood situation,” they said.

The government has said the Citizenship Amendment Act will help minorities from three neighbouring countries — Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh — get citizenship if they fled due to religious persecution and settled in India before December 31, 2014.

Critics, however, claim it discriminates against Muslims and violates the Constitution.

Sources today said the CAA “protects minorities in countries which have a state religion”. “The presence of a state religion is hurting minorities in the neighbourhood,” they added.

All three nations in question are Muslim dominated. The CAA, passed in 2019, covers Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Parsis, Buddhists and Jains.

The law also does not impact citizenship rules of India, sources said. It only fast-tracks citizenship for those persecuted, they said.

The government has said the CAA only reduces the waiting period for filing an application for citizenship to qualifying individuals from 11 years to five.

It also does not discriminate against Muslims from those nations who wish to apply for Indian citizenship. “CAA does not cancel naturalisation laws. Therefore, any person, including Muslim migrants from foreign countries, seeking to be an Indian citizen, can apply,” the government has said.

Sources also said Pakistan did not honour the “Nehru-Liaquat pact”—a treaty drawn up in 1950 and signed by India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his Pakistan counterpart Liaquat Ali Khan. “India raised this matter at the United Nations  unsuccessfully,” sources said.

The Nehru-Liaquat pact assured minorities the same rights as the majority population.

The Pakistan and the Indian government, it said, will ensure “complete equality of citizenship, irrespective of religion, a full sense of security in respect of life, culture, property and personal honour, freedom of movement within each country and freedom of occupation, speech and worship, subject to law and morality”.

They would participate in public life, hold political or other office, and serve in their country’s civil and armed forces. “Both governments declare these rights to be fundamental and undertake to enforce them effectively,” read the treaty.

The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Lok Janshakti Party have agreed a seat-share deal for the Lok Sabha election in Bihar, LJP boss Chirag Paswan said Wednesday. Details will be released at an “appropriate time”, Mr Paswan said, sharing images on X of himself in talks with BJP chief JP Nadda.

Confirmation of the BJP-LJP deal comes after speculation last week the INDIA bloc had opened talks with Mr Paswan’s party. Sources said the LJP had been offered eight seats. These would have included the six won in 2019 election and, as a bonus, tickets for two constituencies in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh.

Sources also said the offer included a second sweetener – Mr Paswan would not have to share the seats with his estranged uncle. The BJP deal reportedly had such a clause.

However, the final deal – with the BJP – could see the LJP settle for fewer seats.

As a member of the NDA, today in a meeting with BJP National President Hon Shri @jpnadda ji, we have together finalised the seat sharing in Bihar for the ensuing Lok Sabha polls.
The same will be announced in due course.

एनडीए के सदस्य के रूप में आज भाजपा के राष्ट्रीय अध्यक्ष… pic.twitter.com/hpAQNC5HKo

— युवा बिहारी चिराग पासवान (@iChiragPaswan) March 13, 2024

The saffron party must accommodate at least two other smaller outfits, including former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular), in addition to sharing seats with the ruling Janata Dal (United), which fought 17 (of the state’s 40) in the last poll.

READ | INDIA Bloc Makes 8-Seat Offer To BJP Ally In Bihar: Sources

Meanwhile, after news of the INDIA bloc’s offer, Chirag Paswan had declared himself a ‘wanted’ man by both camps – ruling and opposition – and said he was weighing options.

“Every party, every coalition wants Chirag Paswan to be on its side,” he boasted.

READ | “Every Party, Every Coalition Wants Me”: NDA Ally Chirag Paswan

Mr Paswan highlighted his ‘Bihar first, Bihari first’ platform, and also projected himself as ‘sher ka beta’, or ‘the son of the tiger’, and the true heir to the political legacy of his father – the late Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, who was widely respected across party lines.

In the 2019 election the LJP – then led by Ram Vilas Paswan – allied with the BJP and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JDU, and had a 100 per cent strike rate, winning all six seats allotted.

Ram Vilas Paswan died a year later, and his death triggered a battle for control between his son, Chirag Paswan, and his brother, Pashupati Kumar Paras, which led to a split in the LJP.

Mr Paswan, the MP from the Bihar’s Jamui, now controls LJP (Ram Vilas) and his uncle – the junior Union Food Processing Industries Minister – heads the Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party.

More significantly, Mr Paras is the MP from Hajipur, the seat Ram Vilas Paswan won eight times, including four in a row from 1996 to 2004. His party had made it clear it will not give up this seat. “We are sure our claim will be honoured by the BJP as we are the NDA’s natural allies,” a spokesperson said.

At this stage it is unclear which LJP faction will get the Hajipur seat, but the BJP will know that whichever way it falls, there will be pushback from the other side.

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The state Legislative Assembly Speaker M Appavu reinstated Ponmudy, who will continue as a member of the Legislative Assembly