New Delhi | West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee raised the issue of National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam in a meeting with Union Home minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Thursday.
Pointing out that 19 lakh people, may of whom were “genuine voters” have been left out of the citizenship registry in Assam, she told him that the exercise is not required in Bengal.
“I handed over a letter to him (Amit Shah), told him that of the 19 lakh people left out of NRC, many are Hindi speaking, Bengali speaking and local Assamese. Many genuine voters have been left out. This should be looked into. I submitted an official letter,” Mamata Banerjee was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
The NRC has been widely criticised in Assam, as 19 lakh people were left out of the list. Even a section of BJP leaders in Assam have criticised it, claiming the list left out a number of Bengali Hindus who were among the party’s core voter group.
“I raised the issue of NRC with the home minister. Lives of people are now uncertain. Several Hindi, Bengali and Gurkhali speaking people have been left out of the NRC,” Mamata Banerjee said after the meeting and added “the issue of conducting NRC, did not come up during the meeting.”
“My stand and that of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar is same, we don’t need an NRC in our states,” the Trinamool Supremo said.
Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday had met Prime Minister Modi. However, she termed the meeting as a mere “constitutional obligation”.
“ As a chief minister of a state with boundaries with foreign countries -Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal- it is part of my duty,” she had said. She said that they had only discussed developmental issues.
Amit Shah at an event had recently said that NRC will be conducted all across the country to weed out “illegal immigrants”.
“He did not say anything about NRC in West Bengal. I have already clarified my stand that NRC is not needed in West Bengal,” Mamata Banerjee later told reporters.
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