TMC to hold rallies across Bengal against Assam's NRC draft

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) will take out rallies across West Bengal tomorrow in protest against the publication of National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, a senior leader of the party said.

The state capital, however, has been exempted from tomorrow's plan, TMC secretary-general and West Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee said here today.

BJP national president Amit Shah is set to address a public meeting in the central part of Kolkata tomorrow.

"Barring Kolkata, we will organise rallies across the state in protest against the NRC. A separate rally will be taken out in the capital city on Sunday," Chatterjee told reporters.

The minister also accused the BJP-led Assam government of "deliberately omitting" Bengalis from the NRC draft.

The complete draft of NRC was published on July 30 in Assam with 2.89 lakh names out of 3.29 applicants. Over 40 lakh people did not make it to the list.

"Lakhs of Bengalis have been omitted from the NRC draft. It has been done deliberately. We demand that these names be included in the list as they are also Indians. You cannot make a person refugee in his own country," Chatterjee added.

Last week, the party had observed 'black day' across the state in protest against detention of its MPs at Silchar airport in Assam.

An eight-member TMC delegation that reached Silchar on August 2 to assess the situation in Assam in the wake of the NRC publication was not allowed to leave the airport.

TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had claimed that the delegation members were manhandled at the airport and accused the BJP of imposing "super emergency" in the country.