Rahul slams govt over NPR, NRC; says it is 'DeMo no. 2', will be more disastrous

Attacking the government over the issue of the National Population Register (NPR) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday described these exercises as "notebandi no. 2" and said they will be more disastrous than the demonetisation in November, 2016.

The basic idea of these exercises is to ask all poor people whether they are Indian or not, he told reporters on the sidelines of the flag-hoisting ceremony at the AICC headquarters here on the occasion of 135th foundation day of the party.

"This whole tamasha that is going on is notebandi no. 2. This will be more disastrous for the people than demonetisation. This will have twice the impact of demonetisation," he said, hitting out at the government over the issues of the amended Citizenship Act, NPR and NRC.

"His (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) 15 friends will not have to show any document and the money generated will go into the pockets of those 15 people," he said.

Gandhi has previously accused the government of working for a select few "crony capitalists".

On the BJP calling him a "liar", Gandhi again attacked Modi over his remarks that there were no detention centres in the country.

"You would have seen my tweet. You would have seen Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech in which he is saying there are no detention centres in India and you would have seen the video of the detention centre. You can decide who is lying," he told reporters.

On Thursday, Gandhi had attacked Modi over his remarks that there were no detention centres in the country, alleging that "RSS's prime minister lies to Bharat Mata".

Taking to Twitter, he had also attached a video clip in which Modi accused the Congress, its allies and "urban Naxals" of spreading the rumour that Muslims will be sent to detention centres.

The clip also shows a purported detention centre being constructed in Assam. "RSS's prime minister lies to Bharat Mata," Gandh hadi said in the tweet in Hindi with the hashtag 'jhoot jhoot jhoot (lies, lies, lies).

Likening the NPR and the NRC to demonetisation, Gandhi on Friday had said in Chhattisgarh that these exercises are "tax" on the poor, who will suffer the same way they did after the note ban in November 2016.

"Whether NPR or NRC, it is a tax on poor people of the country. You understand demonetisation. It was a tax on poor people. Go to banks and give your money but do not withdraw money from your account. Entire money went to the pocket of 15-20 rich people. This (NPR or NRC) is the same thing," he had said.