Month After Snubbing Congress over New Citizenship Law, Prashant Kishor Pens Thank-You Note for Party

New Delhi: Among the first political leaders to oppose the new Citizenship Amendment Act, Janata Dal United (JDU) Vice-President Prashant Kishor on Sunday thanked the Congress for their "formal and unequivocal rejection" of the legislation.

The leader had last month criticised Congress over their absence in the protests against the CAA and National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Kishor, however, tweeted saying, "Both Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi deserved special thanks for their efforts on this count."

His comment comes a day after the Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi in a meeting of the party's Working Committee said the law was "discriminatory and divisive" whose "sinister purpose" was to divide the country along religious lines.

The past few weeks have seen Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi helm several efforts to reach out to victims of the crackdown on anti-CAA protests and the affected families. Priyanka had also participated in the protests at India Gate last month.

Prashant Kishor has been among the top politicians to vehemently oppose the legislation. He had also threatened to resign as Vice-President his party, which had supported the legislation's passage in the Parliament, didn't recall its support.

In a meeting held in December last year, Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar declined Kishor's resignation and assured that the legislation will not be enacted in Bihar.

"Also I would like to assure to all — CAA-NRC will not be implemented in Bihar," Kishor's tweet on Sunday further reads.

Interestingly, Bihar is slated to head for the polls later this year and Kishor's praise for the Congress, that is part of the opposition alliance in the state, has raised speculations.

The amendment to the Citizenship Act, which aims to grant citizenship to six non-Muslim communities — Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian—came into force on January 10 after the Centre issue a gazette notification.

Protests have been raging in several parts of the country including Delhi and West Bengal. On Saturday, members of the ruling party, the Trinamool Congress, and left-leaning parties stage multiple protests against the CAA and NRC in light of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the state capital of Kolkata.