As soon as the much awaited final list of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) of Assam was released on Saturday morning, The Congress leaders from the Northeast region including former Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma and party MP Gaurav Gogoi met party interim President Sonia Gandhi to apprise her about the issue.
The meeting between the three leaders lasted for over an hour at her residence here.
Gaurav Gogoi updated the reporters after the meeting, “We have apprised Soniaji about the issue and she along with other senior leadership will take a party stand on the NRC issue.”
Gogoi also took to Twitter to share his thoughts, “Every section of Assam is unhappy with the status of NRC. Even BJP Ministers are complaining. Careless implementation will result in many genuine Indian citizens to unnecessarily face the courts. Congress will provide all help. Nation above politics is our motto.”
After meeting the Congress Chief, Mukul Sangma said, ” The stand of our party is very clear that the rights of the real citizen should be safeguarded.”
He further said, “Now the details of who is a real citizen will be decided only after detailed information is out.”
Earlier, former Chief Minister of Assam, Tarun Gogoi too took to Twitter to share his party’s view, “We are there to support every Indian citizen, irrespective of their religion.”
Party’s Assam in-charge Harish Rawat , the former Uttarakhand Chief Minister also met Sonia Gandhi to discuss the NRC issue.
The NRC has immense significance for the people of Assam as the state witnessed a six-year-long movement between 1979 and 1985 seeking detection and deportation of illegal Bangladeshis.
The final NRC list came 13 months after the Complete Draft NRC was published on July 30 last year.
The update process of NRC started in 2013 when the Supreme Court of India passed orders for its update. Since then, the apex court bench of Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Justice R Fali Nariman has been monitoring it continuously. The entire project is headed by the State Coordinator of National Registration, Assam, Prateek Hajela under the strict monitoring of the Supreme Court.