Published 20:46 IST, November 30th 2019
Congress leader says party will unite other parties against pan-India NRC, CAB
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Saturday stated that the Congress party will play a leading role in bringing like-minded parties together to oppose NRC and CAB
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Saturday stated that the Congress party will take a lead charge in uniting parties against the Citizenship Amendment Bill and the proposed pan-India National Register of Citizens (NRC). "The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is using diversionary tactics to shift attention from issues, like economy and unemployment. They are using the CAB and the NRC to divert the peoples'' attention," said Ramesh.
Adding further he said, "The CAB is unconstitutional and the Congress will oppose it. In Haryana and Maharashtra, people have rejected the BJP rhetoric. The BJP was also routed in West Bengal by-elections."
The senior Congress leader also alleged that the ruling BJP is using the CAB and the NRC as tools to divide the society. Jairam Ramesh said that the Congress would take the charge to bring like-minded parties together, to oppose the CAB and the NRC in Parliament.
'Assam should be a part of pan India exercise'
Jairam Ramesh also said that Naveen Patnaik had severed his ties with the BJP after he realised it's nature of gobbling up its allies. "The Shiv Sena and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar must also realise it," he further added.
The veteran Congress leader also asked for the CAB to be sent to the select committee. "The BJP is trying to discard Assam's NRC and blame NRC co-ordinator Prateek Hajela," he said.
Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma recently stated that the Accountant General had discovered huge abnormalities in the NRC prepared by Hajela. He also demanded that there is the need to correct the error in the NRC, and advocated for Assam to be a part of the pan-India exercise.
Assam's Finance Minister makes allegations against NRC system
On Thursday, Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma made a serious allegation against the National Register of Citizens (NRC) system and said that a huge financial scam took place in the NRC update process. Talking about the irregularities in the NRC system, he said that the process of finding irregularities in the NRC is over and soon the government is all set to make the data public. Sharma further stated that the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had found up to 16 instances of "financial irregularities" while going through the papers and functioning of the NRC office.
(With inputs from agencies)
Updated 21:26 IST, November 30th 2019