DHAKA (THE DAILY STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - When the legislative assembly of the eastern Indian state of Bihar passed a resolution against the government's proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) recently, it was not just another state to have done so.

True, the legislatures in opposition-ruled West Bengal, Kerala and some other states too had passed separate resolutions opposing NRC. But Bihar stands out for more reasons than one.

First, Bihar is the first state ruled by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which includes the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), where the assembly passed an anti-NRC resolution.

The BJP leads the NDA at the national level but in Bihar, it is a junior partner in the ruling coalition headed by its ally Janata Dal (United) under the chief ministership of Nitish Kumar.

The development has lent an interesting twist to the evolving political drama over NRC, Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Population Register (NPR).

At a rally in Delhi on Dec 22, soon after the CAA law was passed in parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made it clear that there was no discussion in his government about a pan-India NRC, let alone any decision. It is also equally true that Nitish Kumar backs CAA.

But these facts do not in any way dilute the political significance of the passage of the anti-NRC resolution in Bihar assembly with the BJP's acquiescence. This is despite the fact that a country-wide NRC was a key plank of the saffron party's manifesto in the last national elections in 2019.

None of BJP's 54 legislators in the Bihar assembly opposed the anti-NRC resolution. In fact, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Sushil Modi went on record to defend the assembly's anti-NRC resolution citing the prime minister's Dec 22 speech at Ramlila Maidan.

Nitish Kumar too referred to that speech in defence of the resolution, which underlined that there is no need for an NRC exercise in Bihar.

The Dec 22 speech by Modi was seen by political circles more as a watering down of Home Minister Amit Shah's declaration of a country-wide NRC in order to lower the temperature that soared following daily street protests, at times marred by violence, against CAA-NRC-NPR in various parts of India.

Electoral compulsions rather than an ideological conviction seemed to be responsible for BJP's going along with the Janata Dal (United) party in passing the resolution opposing NRC in the assembly.

Fresh assembly elections in Bihar are due later this year, and Janata Dal (United) is mindful of deep anxieties among Muslims, who constitute about 17 percent of the state's population, over NRC-CAA-NPR.

As a junior coalition partner in Bihar, BJP apparently had no option but to accept the fait accompli served up by Janata Dal (United) which wanted to take away a key political weapon from opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal led by its jailed leader Lalu Prasad Yadav, Congress and Left parties.

Secondly, BJP has lost not only assembly elections in Jharkhand, adjacent to Bihar, and in Delhi in quick succession but also a key saffron ally, Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, where too power slipped out of BJP's grip following a below-par show by the party in assembly polls last year and a break-up with Sena.

Apparently, BJP does not want to lose any more ally and election. There is acknowledgement in BJP that its own strength in Bihar is such that it cannot go it alone and needs the company of Janata Dal (United).

It is not just some of BJP's allies that are wary of NRC. Some key regional parties like Biju Janata Dal in Odisha, Y S R Congress Party in Telangana and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu are also uncomfortable with NRC, fearing losing Muslim votes.

AIADMK is also contemplating a resolution in the assembly opposing NRC. BJP is aware that these regional parties have in the past backed the Modi government's key legislations in parliament like the abrogation of Article 370 that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir and criminalising the instant triple talaq, which are part of BJP's ideological agenda.

Another important development in Bihar was that the assembly passed a resolution opposing the new format of NPR and demanded restoration of the NPR that was used a decade ago.

The key difference between the proposed NPR 2020 and NPR 2010 is that the latter had questions about the date and place of birth of an individual's parents and the last residential address of the individual. These questions have been perceived by critics to be a prelude to a nation-wide NRC.

Bihar is among a number of states that want the 2010 NPR to continue for the exercise that is slated to begin in April.

There could be two options to deal with this issue: one way out could be to make "optional" answers to questions regarding parents' date and place of birth and last residential address and the need for producing documents for them, and the other way is to do away with them totally.

The BJP leadership at least in Bihar seems to be warming up to the first option.

The BJP central leadership is determined to go ahead with the CAA. Prime Minister Modi and Mr Shah are using almost every opportunity to make a strong pitch for its implementation with the prime minister himself telling his party men that there is no need to be defensive on the issue.

Quite a lot would depend on what verdict the Supreme Court gives on petitions challenging CAA.

That being so, the question that is cropping up: will BJP step back from a countrywide NRC whose implementation in Assam last year has left almost everyone unhappy? Can there be a give-and-take between the government and the opposition?

The writer is a special correspondent for The Daily Star. The paper is a member of The Straits Times media partner Asia News Network, an alliance of 24 news media organisations.