Former Assam Chief Minister and octogenarian Congress leader Tarun Gogoi on Thursday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangha (RSS) have influenced the whole National register of Citizens (NRC) update process.
Gogoi said that the Supreme Court’s warning to the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India (RGCC), Sailesh and State coordinator, NRC, Prateek Hajela proved that the BJP-led “Centre has no intention to publish an error-free NRC”.
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Terming the NRC as a ‘waste paper’, Gogoi said, “The BJP has been playing double-standard role which resulted lack of seriousness on the part of the State NRC Coordinator and RGI. The BJP, on the one hand, is not in favour of scrapping the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 and on the other hand, talks about NRC.”
Stating that preparation of NRC on the basis of the Assam Accord is a long pending demand, Gogoi questioned, “How would it be possible to update NRC on the basis of the Assam Accord and grant Indian citizenship to the illegal migrants of the State by implementing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 at the same time?”
The three-time former Assam CM also claimed that the modality of the NRC was prepared by the Congress during the Congress rule in the State.
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Lashing out at the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), which is also a partner of the coalition Government in Assam, Gogoi said, “The AGP has also played a double standard role. The AGP protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 and demands implementation of the Assam Accord. But, they are not willing to break coalition with the saffron party in the Government. It is confusing for me.”