New Delhi: BJP National President Amit Shah addresses a press conference at the party headquarters, in New Delhi on Tuesday, July 31, 2018. (PTI Photo/Manvender Vashist) (PTI7_31_2018_000140B) New Delhi: Accusing the Opposition parties of engaging in vote bank politics over Assam’s National Register of Citizens and trying to create a scare, ruling BJP President Amit Shah on Tuesday asserted that not a single Indian citizen will be excluded from the final list.
He told a Press conference at the BJP headquarters here — after battling the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha on the NRC issue — that his party will not compromise on the threat to national security from such a large number of ‘intruders’ in Assam. Accusing the Bengal Chief Minister of “spreading confusion” with her claims of “civil war,” the BJP president said, “I heard the whole speech and I am stunned by it”.
Shah also said, “When you are talking about rights, what about the rights of the Assamese people who have lost their jobs because of these illegal migrants? The NRC, which is a result of the Assam Accord, is a step towards protecting the rights of Indians.” Shah, who is a Rajya Sabha member, said he had heard leaders of various parties speak in the House earlier in the day, and was surprised that none mentioned that this is just a draft list and not the final list.
Asserting that those not on the draft list are “intruders” excluded after investigations, he challenged the opposition parties to clear their stand on the Bangladeshi infiltrators. Slamming the Congress for shying away from preparing the NRC, as promised by Rajiv Gandhi in the Assam accord, he said: “You didn’t have the guts to prepare the list and send back these infiltrators.” Addressing the Congress and other parties which were frightening the people that the Modi government wants to snatch away their citizenship, Shah said: “Only those who were not able to prove their citizenship have been left out of the first list.”
Asserting that the entire process of NRC was conducted under the supervision of the Supreme Court in the most transparent manner, he said he has no hesitation in stating that 40 lakh people whose names are not in the draft NRC are “suspected foreigners.” They do not have to worry if they are not, as “they will have full opportunity to prove their citizenship.”