Assam finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that he has lost all hope in the National Register of Citizens (NRC) as the Centre and the state government were discussing new ways to oust foreigners from the state.
“I have lost all hope in the NRC. I just want the day to pass off peacefully, without any incident,” Sarma said on Friday.
The state finance minister further said Delhi and the Assam government are discussing new ways to oust foreigners from the state.
“I don’t think this is the final list, there are many more to come,” he added.
Although Sarma did not spell out the measures being mulled, sources within the BJP said that he was hinting at bringing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill again to allow the Hindus and other non-Muslim migrants to apply for citizenship, as the BJP promised before the Lok Sabha polls.
The BJP was worried as names of many Hind Bengalis, its vote bank, would not figure in the final NRC list