Oppn leaders approach President over NRC row

A delegation of Opposition parties, led by former prime minister H D Deve Gowda on Thursday appealed to President Ram Nath Kovind to ensure that not a single Indian citizen was left out of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam.

The 10-member delegation comprising representatives from the Congress, TDP, NCP, SP, DMK, Trinamool Congress, AAP and the CPM, in a memorandum submitted to the President, said the final draft of the NRC excluded 40 lakh citizens.

The memorandum accused the government of undermining the nation's democratic and secular values and alleged that the draft NRC had resulted in the exclusion of 40 lakh Indians, including Bengalis, Assamese, Rajasthanis, Marwaris, Biharis, Gorkhas, Punjabis, those from Uttar Pradesh, the southern states and tribals, who were residents of Assam for a very long period.

The political parties also accused the BJP government of spreading misleading statements against the Supreme Court over the NRC issue.

The aftermath of the NRC 2018 was an example of the ruling dispensation threatening and attempting to ruin the country's great institutions like the Constitution, Parliament, the judiciary and the media, it alleged.

“As the custodian of these great institutions, we appeal and urge upon you to ensure that not a single Indian citizen is excluded from the NRC list in Assam,” it added.

Besides Gowda, the delegation included Anand Sharma (Congress), Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Derek O'Brien (both Trinamool), Mohammad Salim (CPM), Y S Chowdary (TDP), Supriya Sule (NCP), Ramgopal Yadav (SP), Tiruchi Siva (DMK) and Sanjay Singh (AAP).