AIUDF opposes NRC reverification

GUWAHATI: The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) has opposed the move for the reverification of the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
AIUDF, one of the principal constituents of the Congress-led opposition grand alliance in Assam, has also criticized state NRC coordinator Hitesh Dev Sarma for exceeding his authority in filing an interlocutory application in the Supreme Court seeking “complete, comprehensive and time-bound reverification” of the NRC.
Last week, Sarma had filed the application for “fixing” the NRC, where “major irregularities” were detected. The NRC published in 2019 saw the exclusion of 19.06 lakh applicants.
“How can a state government officer file an application when the Supreme Court had rejected similar review petitions of the central and state governments in 2019? We believe this time, too, the prayer will be rejected. But the conspiracy to derail the NRC process is a worrying sign,” AIUDF general secretary (organisation) and MLA Aminul Islam said.
Islam asked whether the NRC authorities’s move was approved by the state government. “What is the reason behind the latest move. We want to know whether or not the Centre and the state government were aware of this. The government should clarify if the state coordinator was authorised to file the interlocutory application,” the AIUDF spokesperson said.
He also flagged Sarma’s claim that the published citizens’ list of 2019 August was a “supplementary list” NRC. “How can he say that when the Supreme Court, the Registrar General of India and the Union home ministry have already made it clear that the NRC published in August 2019 is the final NRC,” he said.
Himanta Biswa Sarma, after being sworn in as the chief minister of Assam, had said the BJP-led government favoured 20% re-verification of the updated list of citizens in districts which share a border with Bangladesh and 10% in the remaining districts.