Mamata remarks on NRC unwanted, not based on facts— Congress

Guwahati, Jan. 7 (PTI): The opposition Congress today condemned West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s recent remarks on updating National Register of Citizens (NRC), saying it was “unwanted, immature and not based on facts”.
Banerjee had on Wednesday accused the BJP-led central government of hatching a conspiracy to drive out Bengalis from Assam by “excluding” their names from the first draft of the NRC.
“We do not know why Mamate Banerjee made that statement. Congress do not support it and we condemn it. It is unwanted, immature and was not based on facts,” Assam Pradesh Congress Committee President Ripun Bora said at a press meet here.
Till the final list of NRC is published, nobody should make such statements, he added.
“Such statements only provoke people, but do not help anyone. NRC is for genuine Indian citizens. Where is the question of Bengali or Bihari? How can someone throw Bengalis out of Assam? I think, she (Banerjee) was not properly briefed,” Bora said.
He said that the Congress will keep a close watch so that no genuine Indian citizen is left out and no foreigner is included in the final NRC.
“If any genuine Indian citizen is not included in the NRC, Congress will take all necessary legal steps to ensure that his or her name is included,” Bora said.
The Congress MP said that only 10 per cent of the residents in 13 districts, which have more people of linguistic and religious minority, have found their names in the first draft of the NRC as against around 60-70 per cent in other districts.
Addressing a rally at Ahmedpur in West Bengal on Wednesday, Banerjee had said the Central government was planning to drive out around 1.25 crore people from Assam.
The much-awaited first draft of the NRC was published on December 31 midnight containing 1.9 crore names out of a total application of 3.29 crore people in Assam. The authorities had stated that the rest of the applications are at various stages of verification.