If even one Jharkhandi is uprooted due to CAA, won't implement it: Hemant Soren

Jharkhand Chief Minister-designate Hemant Soren on Tuesday said he will go through thedetails of the amended citizenship law and if even one person from his state isuprooted due to the amended legislation, then it will not be implemented.

Soren, who led the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-Congress-RJD alliance to a win in the assembly polls, also said that he had not gone through the details of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the possible NRC and he would make a "holisticreview" of them.

"I have not gone through the NRC and CAB (now CAA) documents that the governmentof India wants to implement. Citizens are on the roads against these laws. We will go through it and if it uproots even one Jharkhandi from his or her home,then it won't be implemented," 44-year-old Soren told PTI in an interview.

He was on Tuesday formally elected the JMM legislature party leader and will be sworn in as Chief Minister on December 29 at 1 pm.

"The NPR has been done today. We will do a holistic review of the entire act and the policy at the state level and I need to be convinced that not a single Jharkhandi is uprooted from his or her home due to this law," the JMM working president said when asked about his take on the CAA and NRC with manystates ruled by Opposition parties asserting that they will not implement thecontroversial citizenship law.

His remarks came hours after the Union Cabinet approved over Rs 3,941.35 crore forupdating the National Population Register. Accordingto the CAA, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christiancommunities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan tillDecember 31, 2014 and facing religious persecution will be granted Indiancitizenship after staying in the country for five years.

Protests against the CAA demanding revoking of the law have rocked the country,including in West Bengal, in the past few days. Askedabout his alliance's victory in the Jharkhand polls, Soren said it was a winfor democracy and against the "divisive policies" that the BJP hadimplemented in the state.

Results have shown that local issues in states are top most priority of people andtheir aspirations should be addressed, he said, adding that elections arefought on ideologies. Askedabout his priorities as chief minister, Soren said he would focus on landrights act to give land to the landless.

Delinking Aadhar with Public Distribution System and rationalising the distribution ofPDS would also be a priority, he said. He also listed tackling unemployment, creating an employment roadmap for the state,providing water for irrigation and potable drinking water to every household,being on top of his government's agenda.

Creating a holistic plan for reviving and boosting public health and educationinfrastructure is also very important, he said. Welfareof tribals, backwards and minorities will be high on the new government'sagenda, he said.

Theopposition JMM-Congress-RJD alliance stormed to power in the tribal-dominatedstate in the assembly poll results announced on Monday, ending the five-yearrule of the BJP.