Ripun Bora and Debabrata Saikia in Guwahati on Monday. (UB Photos)

Guwahati: The Assam Congress on Monday alleged that the BJP in Assam is trying to use the National Register of Citizens (NRC) for political gain by interfering with the works of the NRC authority.

The 1951 NRC is being updated in Assam under the supervision of the Supreme Court to weed out foreigners. Its first draft was published on December 31 last year and the complete draft will be published on July 30.

“We have come to know that of late the NRC authority is facing problems in working as per the guidelines of the Supreme Court or its own. We believe the BJP is interfering with the works of the NRC update to reap political gain out of it,” said Ripun Bora, president of Assam Pradesh Congress Committee, while talking to the media here. Bora was flanked by leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia.

“The Supreme Court had upheld the documents issued by panchayat secretaries as link documents for NRC update. But during verification the employees of the NRC Seva Kendras (NSK) have refused to accept them on various pretexts to deprive a large number of people from entering their names in the NRC,” he said.

Saikia said the NRC office from Guwahati has sent a list of people to the NSKs asking the latter not to include their names in the NRC. He said the list contains the names of poor people from mainly lower Assam and a particular community who had gone to various districts in search of work. “These people travel only with a document to establish their identity and not with all documents to prove their citizenships. But local police, not satisfied with it, file cases against them. The NRC office has collected the names of these people and asked the NSK not to include their names despite of the fact that they had applied for NRC,” said Saikia.

Bora alleged the BJP government in Assam has asked the NRC authority to remove as many names as it can from the religious minority community.

Bora said the Congress will do their best to help those “Indian citizens” whose names will be dropped from the NRC. “We will fight all legal battles to ensure the names of all Indians in the NRC,” he said.

After publication of the complete draft NRC, people will get a month to file their claims and objections. The updated NRC will be published only after disposing off all these claims and objections.

Bora said they would inform the Centre and the Supreme Court about the discrepancies they have detected during the NRC update.

Citizenship act: Assam Sanmilita Mahasangha, a confederation of indigenous people of Assam, on Monday said the Supreme Court will form a constitution bench in the first week of next month and start hearing on validity of Section 6 (A) of the Citizenship Act, 1955. The development comes amid update of the National Register of Citizens in Assam as the bench will hear whether the cut-off year of the detection for foreigners will be 1971 or 1951. The NRC is being updated with 1971 as the cut-ff year.

RAJIV KONWAR Telegraph India