NEW DELHI: The opposition targeted the ruling BJP over National Register of Citizens, with Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee blaming the Centre and Assam government for turning "Indian citizens into refugees in their own land". Congress demanded an all-party meeting to discuss the issue.

Rahul Gandhi said, "The manner in which this exercise has been undertaken by the BJP governments at the Centre and in Assam leaves much to be desired. There are reports pouring in from all corners of Assam of Indian citizens finding their names missing in the draft NRC , creating massive insecurity in the state. Clearly, after spending close to Rs 1,200 Cr, the execution of this critical and highly sensitive exercise has been tardy. The government must move swiftly to resolve this crisis."

Mamata Banerjee accused the Centre of resorting to "vote bank and, divide and rule policy", alleging that exclusion of over 40 lakh people was an "attempt to evict the Bengalis and Biharis from Assam".

"This is absolutely vote bank politics and election agenda. This isolation has been done keeping in mind as to who can vote for BJP and who cannot vote for them," she alleged. "They are Indians but they have become refugees in their own land," she said, adding if the Centre wanted, it could bring a bill to save the citizenship of these people.

"We must not forget that these people are not Rohingyas but very much Indian," she said.

As he mounted an attack on BJP, the Congress chief underlined that NRC was a project launched by the Manmohan Singh government to honour the Assam accord.

If the assertion showed that Congress was not shy to own up the exercise, it betrayed a relief in party quarters. There were concerns earlier that the issue of identifying "foreigners" in Assam could take a communal hue given the BJP's campaign against "influx of Bangladeshis" in the state.

However, with those left out of NRC belonging to all religions as well as language, Congress appeared to heave a sigh of relief. AICC managers said they could stick to their "Indian vs foreigner" line to justify NRC process, without the fear of polarisation.

In keeping with the confidence, Rahul asked Congress leaders to help victims of "injustice" irrespective of their caste, religion and language.

Banerjee said, "I am extremely worried over the fate of such a huge population. How can a government drive Indian citizens out of the state? Even those who came to Assam from Bangladesh before 1971 are Indian citizens. What will happen if the Centre tries to push them back to Bangladesh? A citizen of India has the right to reside in any state within the country. Aren't there people from other states in Maharashtra? The Centre is playing with fire. The BJP-led government seems hell bent upon driving out language and religion-based minorities from Assam, particularly Bengalis and Biharis. This may trigger retaliation in other states."

While demanding an allparty meeting, AICC spokesman Anand Sharma said no coercive measures like separation of family members or detention should be initiated till all NRC-related matters are disposed. Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said the future exercise should be carried out by a judicial authority.

