Asaduddin Owaisi lauds Andhra CM Reddy's decision of not implementing NRC in State

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday said that his government was against National Register of Citizens (NRC) and would not implement it in the State. Reacting to this, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday has praised his decision of opposing the NRC. "He (Jagan Mohan Reddy) is my friend. I am thankful to the YSR Congress Party-led government for taking this decision. This was a policy decision taken by the Chief Minister," Owaisi said.

'I would like to urge them to look into NPR'

AIMIM chief said that Reddy is running a State government and has to consider a lot of things before taking any decision.
"I would like to urge them to look into National Population Register (NPR), which is also a part of NRC," he said. Several other Chief Ministers have also clarified their stand against the implementation of NRC in their State including, Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal, Nitish Kumar in Bihar, Naveen Patnaik in Odisha, Captain Amarinder Singh in Punjab, Kamal Nath in Madhya Pradesh, Ashok Gehlot in Rajasthan and Pinarayi Vijayan in Kerala.

Protests erupt across the nation

At least 140 people were detained as protests by students and activists against the amended Citizenship law erupted in Delhi. The opposition stepped up protests with the Congress holding a 'Satyagraha for unity' at Mahatma Gandhi's memorial Rajghat and its ally DMK leading a massive rally in Chennai. Several protests are planned across the country on Tuesday. The Jamia Coordination Committee has also called for a protest march. The BJP, meanwhile, will take out a ‘support rally’ in Ahmedabad as it did on Monday in Kolkata which was led by party chief JP Nadda. More than 20 people have died in the protests against the new law since it was signed by President Ram Nath Kovind on December 11.

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What exactly is the NRC?

At its core, the NRC is an official record of those who are legal Indian citizens. It includes demographic information about all those individuals who qualify as citizens of India as per the Citizenship Act, 1955. The register was first prepared after the 1951 Census of India and since then it has not been updated until recently. So far, such a database has only been maintained for the state of Assam. However, on November 20, Home Minister Amit Shah declared during a parliamentary session that the register would be extended to the entire country.

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(With ANI inputs)