BJP's Amit Malviya shares old video to claim Congress was onboard for NPR in the past

Amid the heavy political back and forth over the contentious National Population Register (NPR), BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya slammed Congress for its criticism of the programme originally started by the UPA government. Tweeting a 2011 video of Congress president Sonia Gandhi enumerating for the census, Malviya said the party which brought the NPR is now using it as an excuse to "fan riots" and "create mayhem". BJP has denied any link between NPR and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

READ | Owaisi Accuses Amit Shah Of 'lying' On NPR-NRC Link; Challenges Him For An Open Debate

NPR smuggled into NRC

Congress leader Manish Tewari on Wednesday morning alleged that BJP is smuggling the elements of NRC into NPR. He shared the picture of an NPR form and highlighted the box that asks the applicant if their parents were born in India. Tewari also accused the government of using NPR's details as raw data for the NRC. The Opposition has maintained stern objection to any proposed pan-India NRC.

READ | 'NRC Being Smuggled Into NPR': Manish Tewari Establishes Links Between The Two

Union Cabinet gives nod to NPR updation

Amid the uproar over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC), Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the updation of the National Population Register (NPR) on Tuesday. As per sources, the NPR was initially introduced in 2010. Further, sources revealed that the NPR updation process will be carried out between April and September in 2020. 

Read | Amit Shah rules out link between NRC and NPR, says NPR is not about citizenship

The Home Minister, on Tuesday, during an interview ruled out all the links between the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and NPR. He said, "NPR was notified before CAA was even in the picture." He also ruled out the connection between the detention centres made for the illegal migrants and NRC or CAA. According to him, "The centre has been there for years and is made for illegal migrants. There is no connection."

READ | Congress' Ajay Maken Attacks Amit Shah's Statement On NPR-NRC, Calls It A 'lie'