West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has claimed that names of those with passport, Aadhaar and voter cards were excluded from the final NRC draft in Assam, came down heavily on the BJP-led central government on Tuesday.
She said the Indians who voted for the ruling party had now become refugees in their own land.
“What is going on in Assam? The NRC problem. It is not only the Bengalis, it is the minorities, it is Hindus, it is Bengalis, it is Biharis. More than 40 lakh people voted yesterday for the ruling party and suddenly today they have been made refugees in their own country,” Banerjee said, speaking at the ‘Love your Neighbour’ conference in New Delhi.
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Talking about the people who were left out of the list, Banerjee expressed surprise about names of former President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed’s family members not being on the NRC Assam list.
“I am surprised to see that the names of our former President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed’s family members are not on the #NRCAssam list. What else can I say? There are so many people whose names are not there,” said Banerjee.
“I don’t want to see my motherland divided. We will not allow this to happen in Bengal because we are there. Today, these people cannot even vote,” she added.
The second and final draft of the NRC, which is a list of the state’s citizens, was published on Monday with over 2.89 crore names out of 3.29 crore applicants in Assam. Names of nearly 40.07 lakh applicants did not figure in the document.
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The first draft of the NRC for Assam was published in December end as per the top court’s direction. It was published on the intervening night of December 31 and January 1 where names of 1.9 crore people out of the 3.29 crore applicants were incorporated.