NRC draft is BJP's game plan: Mamata Banerjee

Guwahati/New Delhi: A massive Supreme Court-monitored exercise to identify genuine Indian nationals living in Assam on Monday excluded over 40 lakh people from the final draft list, triggering a political slugfest with the Opposition alleging that it was the BJP’s “gameplan” to divide the people for electoral gains.

As pandemonium over non-inclusion of 40 lakh citizens of Assam in the National Register of Citizens (NRC) led to repeated adjournments in Rajya Sabha with lawmakers from the Trinamul disrupting proceedings, Home Minister Rajnath Singh in Lok Sabha said on Monday that the draft NRC for the state is completely “impartial” and those whose names are not included should not panic as they will get an opportunity to prove their Indian citizenship.

Unsatisfied with the Home Minister’s response, an unrelenting opposition staged a walkout from Lok Sabha. Soon after, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee hit out at the Centre, accusing it of resorting to “vote bank politics”.

“This divide and rule policy will finish the country,” she said at a press conference in Kolkata, alleging it was a “gameplan” to isolate and “throw out of the state” Bengali speaking people and Biharis.

Banerjee also claimed that names of people who have passports, Aadhaar and voter cards have also been excluded from the final draft. Notwithstanding the criticism, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said it was a historic day for the state, which will abide by all the directions of the apex court.

With several MPs from Trinamul, Congress and the Left parties echoing concerns in Lok Sabha also on the NRC issue and the Congress demanding an all party meeting, Mr Singh said, “no coercive action will be taken against anyone. Hence, there is no need for anyone to panic. This is a draft and not the final list.”

The home minister’s reaction came after the draft NRC was published with the names of about 40 lakh residents of the state not being included.

Even someone whose name is not in the final list can approach the foreigners tribunal, the Home Minister said, adding that only after the disposal of claims and objections, the final NRC will be published.

“Some people are unnecessarily trying to create an atmosphere of fear. I want to assure all that there is no need for any apprehension or fear. Some misinformation is also being spread. The NRC process has been done impartially,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Congress questioned the non-inclusion of over 40 lakh people in the complete draft of the NRC and alleged it was a “motivated” action by the BJP which was trying to play “politics of polarisation”.

Meanwhile, informing that NRC directorate would inform each and every applicant about the specific reasons for non-inclusion of their names to over 40 lakh applicants whose name could not be included, Registrar General of India Sailesh told reporters, “This is a historic day for India and Assam. The exercise is unparalleled in size. It is a legal process done under the direct supervision of the Supreme Court.”

Asserting that the exercise was carried out in a transparent, fair, objective manner, he said, “People, whose name could not find place in the final draft need not to worry. They will be given ample opportunity to prove their claim. No genuine Indian citizen should have any fear.”

To a question about the fate of those left out in the final draft NRC, the state coordinator of NRC Mr Prateek Hajela said, "We consider them as applicants. Each of them will be sent letters individually for the next step. We are trying to tell them they might have missed out because of some reasons such as unsubstantiated documents.”