Nitish Kumar also emphasised that caste names be included in the census when it is done.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Monday that a country-wide National Register of Citizens (NRC) was “needless” and had “no justification” but he was open to a debate on issues that have created “turmoil”, including the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

Speaking in the Assembly, Mr. Kumar said his government agreed in principle to the National Population Register like it did 10 years ago when the exercise was last undertaken.

He also emphasised that caste names be included in the census when it is done.

“It (the NRC) would be needless (koi zarurat hai nahin) and have no justification (koi auchitya nahin). And I think the Prime Minister, too, has spoken clearly on this,” he told the House, while thanking it for unanimously ratifying the Constitution amendment for extending quotas for SCs and STs in Parliament and state assemblies by another 10 years.

About the CAA and the National Population Register, he said he was agreeable to having a debate in the Assembly.

“This session has been convened for a specific purpose. However, there is a lot of turmoil over CAA, NRC and NPR. I agree with the Leader of the Opposition that there should be a discussion on these,” he said.

Earlier, Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav had said, “The nation is on fire” on the issues of CAA, NRC and NPR and sought to know whether the Chief Minister “stands with Lalan Singh or Pavan Varma and Prashant Kishor.”

Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh is the JD(U) leader in the Lok Sabha. The party had voted in favour of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in both houses of Parliament, to which Mr. Varma, a national general secretary, and Mr. Kishor the national vice president had taken strong exception.