Cong to hold regular meetings of NECC, accuses BJP of botching up NRC

The party said it will highlight and underline the concerns of large numbers of "genuine citizens" who have been left out of NRC list.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh chaired a meeting of party leaders from the northeastern states, general secretaries, state chiefs and leaders of the legislative party at the residence of party chief Sonia Gandhi.

The meeting was also attended by party leaders KC Venugopal, AK Antony, and Ahmed Patel.

The meeting took place a day after Sonia Gandhi held a meeting of the key office-bearers and asked them to fight for the people at the grassroots.

The meeting was called to discuss the situation and problems faced by people in the North-Eastern states.

The meeting accused the central government of "apathy in face of devastating floods" and "mindlessly implementing National Register of Citizens (NRC) that had left lakhs of genuine Indian citizens stateless".

"It was decided to strengthen and consolidate the North Eastern Coordination Committee and to establish its permanent office at Guwahati," a party release said.

The meeting discussed the Citizenship Amendment Bill and said it was being "again being stoked by BJP leaders" despite having been summarily rejected by the Rajya Sabha.

The party said that opposition to the bill was spearheaded by Rahul Gandhi and chief ministers belonging to NDA have also come out openly in against the bill.