BJP slams Mamata, Opposition for criticising NRC draft

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) general secretary Ram Madhav on Tuesday hit out at the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Opposition for criticising National Register of Citizens (NRC) final draft and said that "some political parties are supporting the illegal immigrants to reside in the country".

In an exclusive interview to ANI, Madhav said, "The love for illegal infiltration that we see from political leaders like Mamata Banerjee and many others is really astounding. No country in the world tolerates infiltrators in its territory, but in our country there are some politicians who stand by them and threaten of a civil war."

He further said that the opposition's stand in the matter is unfortunate and added that some political parties are trying to politicise and communalise the issue.

Following the release of Assam NRC final draft which has left out nearly four million people from the list, the West Bengal Chief Minister gave a stern warning to the BJP that the draft list would divide the people and create a civil war war-like situation in the country.

The Congress party also came down hard on the BJP soon after the release of the draft and said that there was some "political motive" behind the move.

Clarifying that there was no political interference in the NRC final draft, Madhav underscored that that the process of NRC was undertaken under the complete guidance and monitoring of the Supreme Court.

When asked about the deportation of illegal immigrants to other countries, Madhav underlined that future course of action in the matter would be taken once the final list is out.

The draft list, which was released on Monday, left out nearly 40 lakh people in Assam, incorporating names of 2.89 crore people out of 3.29 crore applicants. The list has been updated for the first time since 1951, to account for illegal migration from nearby Bangladesh.