Patna: BJP’s ally JD(U) has reacted strongly to the exclusion of around 19 lakh people from the final list of National Register of Citizenship (NRC) in Assam.
In a tweet on Sunday, JD(U) vice president Prashant Kishor termed the exercise as “botched up” and said that “the NRC has left lakhs of people as foreigners in their own country! Such is the price people pay when political posturing and rhetoric is misunderstood as a solution for complex issues related to national security without paying attention to strategic and systematic challenges”.
Mr. Kishor’s statement is in the line with that of his party, which has been opposing BJP’s stand on NRC and other sensitive issues, including Ayodhya and Uniform Civil Code.
The JD(U) is not the only party criticising the move, some of the BJP leaders have also expressed dissatisfaction over the final list which was published in Assam on August 31.
Sources claim that there are several BJP leaders not only in Assam but in other states also, who were expecting more people to be excluded from the list. The Opposition Congress and RJD in the state have also criticised the move.
Around three crore people were found eligible for inclusion in the final list of the NRC which was published on August 31 in Assam. More than 19 Lakh people have been left out of the list. The exercise was aimed at identifying illegal immigrants from Assam.
Speaking to this newspaper on the issue, senior RJD leader and spokesperson Jai Prakash Yadav said that, “The manner in which over 19 lakh people have been excluded from the final list of NRC is not right for the country. People not only in Assam but in other parts of the country, are not happy with the status of NRC. Many Indian citizens have been left out of the final list. Our party RJD had earlier opposed the move inside and outside the Parliament”.
