india

Updated: Sep 01, 2019 01:06 IST

As more than 1.9 million people in Assam stare at an uncertain future following their exclusion from the National Register of Citizens (NRC) list, the Opposition slammed the Centre over the list released on Saturday, which included 31,121,004 people and left out 1,906,657 out of the 33,027,661 who had applied for inclusion in the list.

Soon after the NRC list was published, Congress president Sonia Gandhi held a meeting with senior party leaders to discuss the situation in Assam in which former defence minister AK Antony, Parliamentarian Gaurav Gogoi and the party’s Lok Sabha floor leader Adhir Chowdury were among those present.

Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi said district-wise details of people have been sought from party leaders in Assam. The Congress stands by every genuine Indian citizen and it will provide legal aid to those affected, he said.

Gogoi said that “every section of Assam” was unhappy with the status of the NRC. “Even BJP ministers are complaining,” he said, pointing that many genuine Indian citizens will have to unnecessarily face the courts. “Congress will provide all help. Nation above politics is our motto,” Gogoi added.

Meanwhile, a section of the BJP expressed unhappiness over the results of the biggest verification survey of the state’s people, and state party presidents in West Bengal and Delhi demanded a similar exercise in their areas.

Assam finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma expressed disappointment over the results and said that many people who came to India as refugees before 1971 (the Bangladesh war) were not included in the final roll. Demanding re-verification of at least 20% of samples from districts bordering Bangladesh, he tweeted, “Names of many Indian citizens who migrated from Bangladesh as refugees prior to 1971 have not been included in the NRC because authorities refused to accept refugee certificates. Many names got included because of manipulation of legacy data as alleged by many.”

BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav, however, complimented the NRC officials for the publication of the final list and added that the state government is taking all steps to maintain law and order in the state.

In West Bengal, BJP president Dilip Ghosh called for an NRC in the state, claiming that the ruling Trinamool Congress aided Bangladeshi infiltration in border areas to consolidate its minority vote bank. “We demand that just like Assam, NRC should also be implemented in Bengal. If the TMC government is not willing to bite the bullet, we will implement it and drive out Bangladeshi Muslims from the state after we come to power in 2021,” said Ghosh.

The TMC countered the charge stating that the BJP was attempting to drive away Bengalis from Assam in the name of NRC. “The NRC fiasco has exposed all those who tried to take political mileage out of it. They have a lot to answer to the nation. This is what happens when an act is guided by an ulterior motive rather than the good of the society and the larger interest of the nation,” Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted on Saturday. “My heart goes out to all those, especially the large number of Bengali speaking brothers and sisters, who are made to suffer because of this botched-up process.”

The CPI(M) politburo statement demanded that the large number of exclusions from the final list “has roused legitimate fears that a large number of Indian citizens have been excluded”. They wanted the government to spell out what will be the status and rights of those who have been excluded, while demanding an all-parties meeting must be convened to discuss the matter.