Assam BJP rejects existing NRC without reverification, backs Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls

The Assam unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday, November 14 reiterated that the existing National Register of Citizens (NRC) cannot be accepted without comprehensive and legally mandated reverification, while asserting that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls remains a long-standing demand of the state's indigenous population.   

Responding to a statement issued a day earlier by the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) regarding the NRC and SIR, state BJP spokesperson Manas Sarania stated in a press release that both an accurate NRC and an error-free electoral roll are essential to safeguard Assam's identity and the constitutional rights of its citizens. 

Sarania maintained that the demand for an infiltrator-free electoral roll is not exclusive to the BJP, noting that it has been a core demand of Assam's indigenous communities and various ethnic and nationalist organisations since the six-year Assam Movement, in which 860 people lost their lives. He accused the Congress of viewing the issue through the lens of partisan politics.   

Clarifying the party's stance, Sarania noted that the BJP has consistently flagged discrepancies in the NRC since its publication on August 31, 2019. He also pointed to historical statements made by previous governments regarding the scale of illegal immigration in the state, citing former Assam Chief Minister Hiteswar Saikia's 1992 estimate of 30 lakh illegal Bangladeshi migrants, former Union Home Minister Indrajit Gupta's 1997 parliamentary statement putting the figure at 40 lakh, and former Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Sriprakash Jaiswal's 2004 parliamentary submission estimating 50 lakh illegal immigrants. 

Sarania questioned the disparity between these historical estimates and the final NRC list, which excluded approximately 19 lakh applicants—a figure the BJP spokesperson noted also includes nearly 12 lakh indigenous individuals.   

To substantiate the demand for reverification, the BJP cited data from an application filed before the Supreme Court by former NRC State Coordinator Hitesh Dev Sarma. According to the filing, out of 64,247 individuals categorized as Original Inhabitants (OI) in the Chhaygaon Revenue Circle of Kamrup district in June 2019, 14,183 allegedly did not meet the required eligibility criteria. Furthermore, a special reverification of 30,791 individuals in the same circle in August 2019 reportedly found eligibility discrepancies in 7,446 cases (24.18 per cent), including instances involving declared foreigners, doubtful voters, individuals with cases pending before Foreigners Tribunals, and their children. Sarania argued that the scale of anomalies detected in a single revenue circle underscores the necessity for a statewide reverification, particularly in border districts.   

The BJP spokesperson also criticized the Congress for demanding the unconditional acceptance of the current NRC without addressing allegations of corruption and procedural irregularities during the tenure of former NRC State Coordinator Prateek Hajela. Sarania alleged that the Congress had entrusted the updation process to Hajela to facilitate the inclusion of illegal immigrants and demanded an explanation from the opposition party.

Sarania reaffirmed the BJP's commitment to conducting a lawful reverification of the NRC and executing the SIR to ensure that no legitimate Indian citizen is disenfranchised while preventing illegal foreign nationals from obtaining citizenship or voting rights