Soon after the final draft of Assam's National Register of Citizens (NRC) was released on Monday, the Congress and Trinamool Congress (TMC) alleged the Narendra Modi government's electoral calculations were behind the exclusion of 40 lakh people from the list. West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee told the BJP “Don't play with fire when it's about humanity.”
The final draft list, released by the NRC coordinator, has left out nearly 40 lakh residents of Assam, incorporating names of 2.89 crore people out of 3.29 crore applicants.
Banerjee led the opposition's charge on the NRC issue. Speaking to mediapersons, Banerjee said 40 lakh people were excluded due to the electoral calculations of the BJP.
Banerjee alleged people from North Bengal who had been living in Assam for a long time had been excluded from the NRC draft. Banerjee called the exclusions a “plan to evict Biharis and Bengalis” from Assam and asked “What would happen to these people if Bangladesh did not take them back?”
Banerjee declared she would send a team of TMC MPs to Assam and “if necessary, I will go there too.” Banerjee claimed internet services had been suspended in Assam and Bengalis in that state couldn't be contacted.
Banerjee declared she would seek time from Home Minister Rajnath Singh to discuss the issue.
When asked whether West Bengal would shelter people whose names were excluded from the NRC draft, Banerjee said, “We will think about it if they want to come. But why should they be evicted?"
"They are Indians, but they became refugees in their own land," she said.
Banerjee also claimed that even names of some people who have passports, Aadhaar and voter cards have been excluded from the final draft NRC.
"The ineligibility of around 40 lakh people is a very high figure and very surprising. There are a lot of irregularities in the [NRC draft] report. We will raise this issue with the government and in the Parliament. A political motive of BJP is also behind this," Congress MP Ripun Bora told reporters.
TMC leader Sukhendu Sekhar Roy said excluding 40 lakh people from the list will have serious ramifications on the demography of different states adjoining Assam.
"The Central government has intentionally eliminated more than 40 lakh religious and linguistic minorities from NRC, which will have serious ramifications on the demography of different states adjoining Assam," Roy told reporters.
Roy further asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to clarify his government's stance on the NRC in the Parliament. Assam's NRC has been updated for the first time since 1951 to keep track of the illegal immigration from countries like Bangladesh.
Following the release of the list, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh assured that no coercive action would be taken against those whose names are not mentioned in the final draft list. He also chided the opposition for “politicising” the NRC issue.
Speaking on the same in Lok Sabha, Singh said, "I want to ask the opposition, what is the Centre's role in this [NRC issue]? It is happening under the supervision of the Supreme Court. Such sensitive issues should not be politicised."
"Even someone whose name is not in the final list can approach the foreigner's tribunal. No coercive action will be taken against anyone, hence there is no need for anyone to panic," Rajnath told reporters.
Clarifying that this is the draft list and not the final one, Singh added that "no misinformation should be spread in this regard."
