NRC 'erroneous', should have been more exclusions: Himanta Biswa Sarma

Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said that the number of people excluded from the National Register of Citizens (NRC) should have been higher as the list which excluded 19 lakh people was erroneous.

"There should have been a little more (exclusion) as we had evidence of legacy data manipulation. We thought re-verification will be ordered. But it didn't happen. I think the number is a bit conservative, it should have been more," he told ANI here.

The 1951 NRC and the electoral rolls up to March 24, 1971, are collectively called as the legacy data.

He said that the ruling BJP will now approach the Supreme Court again for "re-verification" of the citizenship in the districts bordering Bangladesh.

The BJP leader said, "We will continue to pursue our case before the Supreme Court that 20 per cent re-verification should be ordered in bordering districts and 10 per cent re-verification should be ordered in remaining districts."

He said that the BJP would continue its efforts to deport more illegal immigrant living in the state.

"At some point of time centre will come out with the preparation of a National Population Register/National Register of Citizenship. Assam should be a part of that exercise so that whatever we could not achieve in this exercise, we can achieve in next exercise," he said.

The Centre and the state government had moved the Supreme Court seeking re-verification of 20 per cent of the names in the draft NRC. The court, however, had dismissed the request earlier this month.

The register, which was first published in Assam in 1951, is being updated on the top court's orders to segregate Indian citizens living in the state from the people who illegally entered India from Bangladesh.