The Congress in Tripura has alleged that the BJP-led governments at the Centre and in Assam were involved in a "pre-planned conspiracy" to exclude 40 lakh people from the draft National Register of Citizens (NRC).
The ruling BJP in Tripura, however, refuted the charges as "baseless", saying the process of updating the NRC started on the direction of the Supreme Court.
"Genuine citizens with valid documents have been excluded only to drive them out of Assam. It's a pre-planned conspiracy of the Centre and Assam government. Those whose names do not figure in the draft NRC are mostly Bengali Muslims, Bengali Hindus and Manipuris," Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee chief Birajit Sinha said.
Many residents of Tripura have matrimonial links with the people of Assam. They are also in trouble, the Congress leader told reporters here yesterday.
Nearly one lakh people have migrated to Assam from Tripura in search of livelihood. Despite having valid documents, they were left out, he claimed.
Unlike the BJP-led NDA, the Congress wanted to find an amicable solution to the exclusion of people from the NRC list, he added.
Reacting to it, BJP vice-president Pratima Bhowmik said, "It is a baseless charge because the BJP government in Assam had nothing to do with the exclusion of names in the NRC. The entire process of updating the NRC started on the directive of the Supreme Court."
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