Nationalist Citizens Party of India leader Abu Taher attended a key breakfast meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address pressing public issues, despite firmly denying any affiliation with the ruling NDA alliance.
Key Points
- NCPI leader Abu Taher attended a breakfast meeting hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for NDA constituents.
- Taher explicitly stated that his party, the NCPI, is not part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.
- His attendance was to raise critical public issues, including alleged voter deletions and loudspeaker restrictions in mosques.
- Taher also advocated for a new railway line in his Murshidabad constituency.
- NCPI MPs had previously met Union Home Minister Amit Shah to discuss similar concerns.
Nationalist Citizens Party of India leader Abu Taher asserted that he was "not in the NDA" although he attended a breakfast meeting hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for MPs of several alliance partners on Friday.
Taher, the MP from West Bengal's Murshidabad, said he attended the event only to raise public issues, including alleged voter deletions during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the state, restrictions on the use of loudspeakers in mosques, and the demand for a new railway line in his constituency.
The meeting with the prime minister was an opportunity to place the concerns directly before him, and not an indication of support for the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), he said.
Raising Key Public Concerns
"The meeting was good. My only purpose for going to the meeting was to raise certain issues," Taher told PTI.
Besides the issues raised during a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday, Taher said he also urged the prime minister to consider a new railway line near the border areas of West Bengal.
He rejected suggestions that his presence at the meeting signalled support for the ruling alliance.
"We are not in the NDA... I am in the NCPI... When I leave the NCPI, I will tell you," he said.
NCPI's Stance On Alliance
Taher, along with fellow NCPI MPs Khalilur Rahaman and Yusuf Pathan, met Shah on Thursday and submitted a memorandum highlighting concerns over reported restrictions on the use of loudspeakers in mosques and alleged deletion of genuine voters following the recent Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in West Bengal.
Referring to reports of mosques being directed to remove loudspeakers, the memorandum urged authorities to ensure a "fair, uniform, and sensitive implementation" of noise regulations while respecting religious sentiments.
On the SIR exercise, the MPs said a large number of genuine voters whose names were deleted from the electoral rolls are awaiting tribunal decisions and facing difficulties in passport verification, land registration and access to government welfare schemes.
The NCPI MPs sought fast-tracking of pending genuine cases, setting up of additional tribunal benches, creation of a grievance redressal mechanism and measures to ensure that genuine citizens are not denied essential public services while their cases remain pending.
Modi's Breakfast Meeting Details
Prime Minister Modi on Friday hosted a breakfast meeting with more than 40 MPs from NDA constituents, including the NCPI, Shiv Sena, Republican Party of India (Athawale), Rashtriya Lok Morcha, AIADMK and the United People's Party Liberal.
Taher, Rahaman and Pathan were among those present at the meeting, even as they maintained that they were not part of the NDA.
