The Congress's keenness to counter the BJP's efforts to make political capital out of the National Register of Citizens was clear as the Congress Working Committee on Saturday decided to emphasise that the process for carrying out the exercise was started by the United Progressive Alliance government.
The CWC, which met under the chairmanship of Congress president Rahul Gandhi, also sought to counter the Narendra Modi government and the BJP by claiming that genuine Indian citizens—including indigenous Assamese, Bengali Hindus, Nepali people, Gorkhas, tea tribes, serving and retired members of armed forces and religious minorities—were left out of the final draft of the NRC.
“The CWC noted that the historic Assam Accord was signed by former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, and from that accord flowed the NRC. It was done with the aim of identifying all those foreigners who came into Assam illegally,” said Randeep Surjewala, in-charge of the AICC Communications Department.
Surjewala, who briefed the media on the CWC meeting, said the highest decision-making body of the Congress also noted that the framework for the NRC was laid down by the Manmohan Singh government, which allocated Rs 490 crore for the process and appointed 25,000 enumerators to carry out the exercise.
The Congress realises that it is a tight rope walk for the party as it takes on the BJP on NRC, as protests will be projected by the saffron party as sympathy for illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. The BJP has accused the Congress of protecting illegal migrants as they were its 'vote bank'.
The strategy discussed at the CWC meeting is that the party should emphasise that 80 per cent of the work on NRC was carried out under Congress governments. An idea also being pursued is to accuse the BJP of attempting to damage Assam's social fabric through the NRC.
Surjewala claimed that while 82,728 illegal Bangladeshi immigrants were deported during the UPA's tenure, the Modi government has deported only 1,822 illegal immigrants to the neighbouring country.
Former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi made a detailed presentation before the CWC on the historical background of NRC, how it flew from the Assam Accord that was signed by Rajiv and the work done on NRC by the Manmohan Singh government and the Congress regimes in the state.
Assam PCC chief Ripun Bora and CLP leader Debabrata Saikia were especially called to the CWC to brief the decision-making body on the political situation arising out of the NRC.
CWC members from Assam Gaurav Gogoi and Sushmita Dev also spoke in the meeting on the NRC issue.
Meanwhile, the CWC has decided the party will launch a jan andolan (mass agitation) in a bid to corner the Modi government and the BJP on the issues of corruption, especially the alleged irregularities in the Rafale deal and also bank scams, the deteriorating condition of the country's economy, agrarian crisis and unemployment.
This was the second CWC meeting to be held in two weeks. UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi was not present at the meeting. AICC general secretary Ashok Gehlot, who is in charge of organisation, said Rahul wants the CWC to meet on a regular basis, and there should be at least one meeting of the committee every month.