AGP's quitting NDA unfortunate, should reconsider their decision: Ram Madhav

BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav on Wednesday said the Asom Gana Parishad's (AGP) decision to quit the NDA was unfortunate and should reconsider their decision as "there is no truth in their apprehensions" over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.

"Unfortunate that AGP has decided to quit NDA. Their apprehensions are just apprehensions. There is no truth in them. We are committed to protecting the identity of the people of Assam. I appeal to the AGP to reconsider the decision," said Madhav while talking to ANI here on Wednesday.

"The Bill is not any state or region specific. It is for the entire country," he said.

Madhav said that the BJP government has decided to give ST status to six communities in Assam. "This has been a long-standing of successive Assam government right from 1980. So our government has taken this decision of extending ST status to these communities."

Madhav said that in the last so many decades India has seen the phenomena of minorities from neighbourhood, especially from Pakistan and Afghanistan, coming into the country as they have nowhere else to go.

"They seek refuge in India. It is India's duty to extend citizenship facility to them but it is not for any one region. It is coming with a number of conditions so that no single state will be unnecessarily burdened or unnecessarily subjected to demographic problem," he added.

Madhav reiterated that the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill extends to those who came between 1971 and 2015. The minorities from Bangladesh will have a right to claim citizenship.

"Not all Bengalis living in Assam are outsiders, and not all of them are from Bangladesh. In any case, until 1971 those who had come into Assam from Bangladesh have been included in the NRC," Madhav said.

Madhav also slammed the opposition for criticising Prime Minister Modi led government at the Centre for giving 10 per cent quota to the economically backward among the general category people in government jobs and academic institutions.

"This quota has been a long pending demand for almost 30 years now. When we took the step to meet the demand, the oppositions are criticisng us," the BJP General Secretary added. "The opposition parties are doing this because we are committed to the welfare of the people of the country," he said.