The polarising issue of the National Register of Citiizens (NRC) could be reignited in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, with the chief ministers of both states batting for its implementation. Harayana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said the NRC will soon be implemented in the state. "In Haryana, we will implement NRC along the lines of Assam," he said at a function in Panchkula, according to NDTV. News agency ANI reported that Congress leader Bhoopinder Singh Hooda supported the BJP chief minister's decision. "What the chief minister has said is the law, foreigners have to leave, it is the responsibility of the government to identify them," Hooda said. Haryana will go to polls in a month's time.
ALSO READ
- Assam: Desperate Congress uses Zubeen Garg death as poll plank
- 93rd IAF Day | 'Will give sleepless nights to enemies', says Assam CM Himanta after first-ever air show in northeast
- 1983 Nellie massacre: Why tabling of Tiwari Commission Report ahead of elections is crucial in Assam politics
- Zubeen Garg death case: What caused the violence outside Baksa jail in Assam?
- Will Zubeen Garg death probe hit a roadblock? ‘Assam Police can’t go to Singapore,’ says CM Sarma
- How Zubeen Garg died: Justice Saikia commission to probe foul play, conspiracy angles
- Was Zubeen Garg poisoned? Shekhar Jyoti Goswami's statement points fingers at Siddharth Sharma, Shyamkanu Mahanta
- Who is Amrit Prabha Mohanta? Controversial video leads to Assamese singer’s arrest in Zubeen Garg case
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, in an interview to The Indian Express, also highlighted the need for NRC to secure "national security". “This is an important and a brave decision [NRC in Assam]. These things are being implemented phase-wise and I feel that when Uttar Pradesh will need an NRC, we will do so. In the first phase, it has been Assam and the way it is being implemented there, it can be an example for us. Using their experience, we can start it here phase-wise. It is important for national security and it will also put a stop on the rights of poor being taken away by illegal immigration,” he said.
By the end of the process in Assam, the NRC—in its present form—had become an almost universally hated exercise, eliciting anger from political parties of all hues. The opposition on Saturday expressed concern over the exclusion of over 19 lakh people from the NRC in Assam and said steps should be taken to ensure that no Indian citizen is left out, while the state BJP said it does not trust the updated list and a legislation will be brought to safeguard the interest of genuine applicants. The Congress said it stands by those excluded and will provide them legal aid.
The Trinamool Congress had organised rallies and street corner meetings at various parts of West Bengal in protest against the NRC in Assam. Carrying posters and placards, TMC supporters shouted slogans against the Narendra Modi government and demanded immediate repeal of NRC in Assam. Reacting to the TMC's programme, West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh said if the saffron party comes to power after the 2021 assembly polls, it will pitch for NRC in the state. He said infiltrators would have to be driven out for the sake of the country's internal security and iterated BJP's commitment to protect the interest of Hindu refugees through the Citizenship Amendment Bill. Home Minister Amit Shah had raised the issue of NRC in the northeastern states too. "Questions are being raised about the NRC by different sections but today I just want to say this that the BJP-led government is committed to ensure that not a single illegal immigrant enters the region," he said.
