BJP only party in Tripura against NRC revision: CPI(M) leader

Barring the ruling BJP, no political parties in Tripura are opposed to National Register of Citizens (NRC) revision, a senior CPI(M) leader said today.

If the Centre wishes to revise the citizenship register across the country, the CPI (M) has "no reason to oppose the move", Lok Sabha MP Jitendra Chowdhury said.

"NRC is a regular matter. It was supposed to be regularly updated but no state took measures after 1951. Following the recent Assam exercise, talks about updating NRC in other states have been doing the rounds. I don't think any Indian citizen will oppose the exercise," he told reporters.

The Indigenous Nationalist Party of Twipra (INPT), a regional party with a tribal base, has also been demanding NRC revision in the state.

The party organized a five-hour sit-in in front of Swami Vivekananda Maidan here today to press for their demands, including revision of register and empowerment of Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council, which administers areas inhabited by indigenous people of the state.

INPT president Bijoy Hrangkhawl said a delegation of the party would visit Delhi soon to submit a memorandum to the Centre in this regard.

"The demand for NRC revision is a constitutional one. We demand that citizens clarify their stance on the issue," Hrangkhawl said during his speech.

Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb had said last month that everyone in the state has valid papers and there was no demand for updating the register.

"Everything is in order in Tripura and everyone has valid papers. Hence, it is not an issue for us," Deb had said.

The IPFT, the ruling party's ally in the state, however, has been vocal in its demand for draft revision.

"The revision should be carried out on the lines of NRC exercise in Assam. It is the need of the hour," Mevar Kumar Jamatiya, the General Secretary of Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT), said last week.

Taking a dig at the BJP, the Congress today said that saffron party maintains double standards.

"Even when BJP national president Amit Shah said the NRC should be revised, Chief Minister Biplab Deb asserted there was no need for the exercise. This only goes on to show the double standards of the BJP," Congress Vice President Tapas Dey said.

He, however, cautioned that many tribal people might not have their documents in place.

"We have always been in favour of NRC revision, but in case of Tripura, utmost care should be taken because tribal people in the hilly and remote areas might have misplaced their documents. Under such circumstances, the real citizens should not be deleted from the list.