Cong questions exclusion of 40 lakh, AIUDF cautious, AGP demands deportation of illegals

The Congress today questioned the non-inclusion of over 40 lakh people in the complete draft of the NRC and alleged it was a "motivated" action by the BJP which was trying to play "politics of polarisation".

Former Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, who had spearheaded the six-year-long Assam agitation against foreigners and was a signatory to the historic Assam Accord, told PTI that the central government "must deport people, who have come after March 24, 1971, to their original country".

AIUDF president Badruddin Ajmal said exclusion of 40 lakh people was "not a small matter" and the party will provide assistance to all people whose names did not feature in the draft to ensure that no genuine Indian citizen is left out. He however, added that everyone should wait for the final list.

Assam PCC President Ripun Bora hoped that the Centre would implement in letter and spirit Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh's statement that no genuine citizen would be left out.

"Intensive revision of voters list in 1995 and 1997 had shown only 3.5 lakh 'Doubtful' or D voters. It is not clear how another 36.5 lakh people were dropped (in the complete draft of NRC)," Bora said after release of complete draft of the NRC.

The non-inclusion of over 40 lakh applicants is "motivated and we will help those whose names are not there in the list seek legal redress", he said.

Veteran Assam Congress leader and former chief minister Tarun Gogoi said that 40 "is a big figure" and he feared that most of them are "genuine" Indian citizens.

Many people had expected that a correct NRC draft will be published, but that has not been done, he said adding the BJP government in the state has not given any actual figure of foreigners in Assam till today.

"In my opinion most of those whose names have been excluded are genuine Indian citizens and in this list people across communities have been excluded including many Hindus and Bengali speaking people," Gogoi told PTI here.

The BJP government, he said, is saying that those excluded from the NRC need not fear and would be allowed to file claims and corrections. "This proves that BJP itself admits that genuine Indians are being excluded because if they are foreigners why are they being allowed to file claim when they should be identified and corrective action be taken".

He claimed the "double standards" of BJP have been "exposed" as they first said that they will protect Hindu Bengalis but are "now targeting even those among them who were part of pre-1971 India".

"Unfortunately NRC's original objective remains unfulfilled even after crores of rupees being spent in updating it", he said.

He claimed that Union Minister Rajnath Singh is now trying to shift the blame of the "weak implementation" to the Supreme Court. "It is shameful as the Supreme Court has never directed that genuine Indian citizens be harassed."