The opposition parties attempted to corner the Narendra Modi government in Parliament on Tuesday over the issue of exclusion of approximately 40 lakh people from the final draft of Assam's National Register of Citizens, which was published on Monday. Groups across the northeast have raised demands that the NRC be extended to other states in the region to identify illegal immigrants.
Amid an uproar, which led to the adjournment of the Rajya Sabha, Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu told members that Home Minister Rajnath Singh will come to the House after attending to his duties in the Lok Sabha and reply to the "sensitive and serious matter" of the NRC draft.
TMC leader Derek O'Brien wanted his notice under Rule 267—which calls for setting aside of the day's business to take up the issue pressed—to be taken up.
TMC members, who had on Monday too led the protests on the NRC issue that saw Rajya Sabha proceedings being adjourned without transacting any business, vociferously protested from the aisles.
As other members joined in, Naidu adjourned proceedings till noon.
Before doing so, Naidu pointed out that the home minister had on his request come to the House on Monday but could not make a statement.
Maintaining that the issue at hand had a historical background as it was rooted in the Assam Accord, Naidu said on Tuesday he has asked the home minister to be come to the House.
The home minister, he said, had agreed to do so once he finishes replying to questions in the Lok Sabha.
Leader of the opposition and senior Congress member Ghulam Nabi Azad asked whether members would be given an opportunity to seek clarification after the home minister makes his statement on the NRC.
Naidu replied in the affirmative.
Out of the 3.29 crore applicants, 2.89 crore have been found eligible for inclusion in the complete draft of NRC, that was released in Guwahati on Monday. This meant that the names of 40.07 lakh people have been left out.
Security tightened in Tripura
Security was tightened across Tripura on Tuesday to maintain law and order following the publication of the NRC draft in Assam. "No adverse report was reported from anywhere in the state. However, following the release of second draft of NRC in neighbouring Assam, security agencies in Tripura are closely monitoring the situation in Tripura," Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) K.V. Sreejesh told the media.
He said that the police stations adjoining Assam and the security personnel posted along the inter-state boundaries have been asked to maintain a strict vigil over the situation.
The Union Home Ministry has asked all the neighbouring states of Assam to tighten security.
Tripura shares a 53 km border with Assam.
Meanwhile, the tribal Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) has demanded introduction of the NRC in the state.
"We would soon organise agitations in Tripura in support of our demand. For the interest of the indigenous tribals, like in Assam, NRC must be prepared in Tripura," INPT President Bijoy Kumar Hrangkhawl told reporters on Tuesday.
Another party, Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT), the junior ally of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has also made the same demand.
Similar demands rise across region
The North East Students' Organisation (NESO), an umbrella body of students of all the northeastern states, has demanded that the NRC exercise be extended to the other states in the region as well as they too faced the illegal immigration problem.
NESO chairman Samuel Jyrwa said, "The NRC was one of the demands after the Assam Accord. Now, we desire that it should be extended to all the northeastern states,” arguing that they also were suffering from illegal immigration.
Meanwhile Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Meghalaya have announced tighter security on their border regions with Assam to prevent a possible influx of people, whose names were left out of the NRC draft.