GUWAHATI: A day before a TMC delegation's scheduled visit to Bengali-majority Barak Valley, Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal on Wednesday obliquely criticised his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee for her aggressive stand against the NRC update exercise.

Without taking Mamata's name who has described the NRC exercise as a "conspiracy to throw out Bengalis and Biharis" from Assam, Sonowal said: "Outsiders are making provocative statements on the NRC process. It is because of the tremendous political maturity shown by the people of Assam that publication of the NRC update has been possible." He urged the people of the state to "maintain calm and not get swayed by divisive forces".

In Silchar, the nerve centre of the Barak Valley where the Trinamool delegation arrives on Thursday, the All Cachar Karimganj Hailakandi Students' Association warned that Mamata's utterances could trigger unrest in Assam. It alleged that thousands of Bengali-speaking people couldn't find a place in the NRC because of the Bengal government's failure to verify their documents in time.

Meanwhile, Assam police are worried about the inclusion of Bongaon MP Mamata Thakur in the TMC delegation. Thakur represents the Dalit community who form the second largest segment of people who migrated to India from erstwhile East Pakistan.

