Sharad Pawar draws parallel with citizenship law protests against Emergency

Asked if states can refuse to implement the Act, Pawar passed the question to senior NCP leader Praful Patel. “Though it’s a Central Act, it will, after all, require state machinery to implement,” Patel said.

Pawar added, “Some states have decided against it. I don’t know if that kind of thinking is going on in the state (Maharashtra) government.”

Asked if the Centre can put such states under President’s Rule, he said, “For that, they will have to take recourse to Article 356. But there too, there are several verdicts of Supreme Court and the government will be able to do anything only in accordance with those rulings.”

Asked if protests may force the government to rethink on the new citizenship law, Pawar said, “As I can see, both (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi and (Home Minister Amit) Shah are very firm on implementing it.”

The NCP leader also said the new alliance in Maharashtra may contest the upcoming local body elections together.

Asked about Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s comparing the police action in Jamia with the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, Pawar smiled, “That means the government is going to last for five years.”

About the Centre’s relief to farmers, Pawar said, “The Centre has an emergency fund of Rs 35,000 crore for relief during situations like floods, crop damage, earthquake etc. Any amount can be released even without the signature of the Finance Secretary.”