Will Resign if Non-NRC Applicant Granted CAA Citizenship: Assam CM Himanta

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday claimed that he'll be the first person to resign if even one non-NRC applicant is granted citizenship.

During a programme at Sivasagar, he said, ''I am a son of Assam and if a single person who has not applied for NRC gets citizenship, I will be the first to resign."

''If this happens, I will be the first to protest."

Himanta added that there is nothing new about the CAA as it was enacted earlier and that ''now the time has come for application on the portal'."

Assam Chief Minister's comment comes after protests erupted across Assam with opposition parties flaying that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre for implementing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) on Monday, paving the way for granting citizenship to undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

The protesters are claiming that lakhs of people will enter the state after the implementation of the CAA.

Furthermore, Himanta said, ''The data on the portal will speak now, and it will become clear whether the claims of those opposing the Act stand factually correct or not."