BJP's NPR dangerous, different from one in 2010: Chidambaram

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Thursday slammed the BJP-led Central government over the National Population Register (NPR) and said that it is dangerous and different from the one implemented by the UPA in 2010.

In a series to tweets, Chidambaram said that the BJP has a sinister agenda and dared the Centre to state that they have no intention of linking it to the controversial National Register of Citizens (NRC).

The Congress leader's remark comes two days after Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that there is no link between the NPR and the NRC and the data collected for the NPR will not be used in the NRC.

"The BJP-led government has a larger and more sinister agenda and that is why the NPR approved by them yesterday is very dangerous and different in terms of the text as well as the context of NPR 2010," Chidambaram said on Twitter.

He also urged the people to listen to the video of the launch of NPR in 2010, which was recently released by the BJP and asserted that back then the emphasis was on residency, not citizenship.

"I am happy that the BJP has released a video clip of the launch of NPR in 2010. Please listen to the video. We were enumerating the "usual residents" of the country. The emphasis is on residency, not citizenship," the Congress leader tweeted.

"Every usual resident was to be enumerated irrespective of his or her religion or place of birth. The NPR aided the preparation of the Census of 2011. There was no mention of NRC," he added.

Chidambaram said, "If the BJP's motives are bonafide, let the Government unconditionally state that they support the NPR form and design of 2010 and have no intention of linking it to the controversial NRC."

Amid growing apprehensions about the NPR, Amit Shah in an exclusive interview with ANI had urged opposition parties not to do politics over the population register as "it is aimed at benefitting citizens and for improving the planning of welfare schemes".

So far, the governments of West Bengal and Kerala have decided to stop the exercise to update the NPR.