NRC can be done also in West Bengal to evict illegal immigrants from Bangladesh: BJP

The comment was made by Kailash Vijayvargiya, the BJP General Secretary in charge of West Bengal.

Vijayvargiya has been quoted by The Indian Express as saying, "The youth in West Bengal want to identify the illegal migrants from Bangladesh as they are facing several problems like unemployment and law and order issues. The BJP supports their demand."

"If the final draft (of the National Register of Citizens) in Assam found 40 lakh illegal residents, the number could run into crores in West Bengal. In Assam, the Supreme Court has monitored it. This can be done in West Bengal too."

Sparking fears of deportation and a law and order crisis, India on Monday announced exclusion of about four million people from citizenship in the northeastern state of Assam, bordering Bangladesh, after a draft National Register of Citizens (NRC) was published.

Those excluded from the list could not prove their citizenship by providing valid documents and are mostly Muslim immigrants who came to Assam before 1971, when countless fled Bangladesh during its freedom war.

Assam published its updated draft of National Register of Citizens in which the names of 2,89,83,677 people out of the 3,29,91,384 applicants figured, leaving a staggering 40,07,707 out of the list.

While the opposition went ballistic over the draft, India's Registrar General Shailesh said of the 30 million people who had applied to be included on the list,  just over four million were excluded from the draft published on Monday.

“No genuine Indian citizens need to worry as there will be ample opportunities given to them to enlist their names in the final NRC,” he told media persons in Guwahati.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday alleged that it is a "game plan" to throw out Bengalis and Biharis and render them as refugees in their own country.

Addressing the media before leaving for Delhi on a three-day visit, she said that people with Aadhar cards and passports are not in the complete NRC draft for Assam, published on Monday. "Is the Government trying to do forceful eviction?" she asked.

"People are being isolated through a game plan. We are worried because people are being made refugees in their own country. Its a plan to throw out Bengali speaking people and Biharis. Consequences will be felt in our state also," Mamata, who is also the supremo of West Bengal's ruling party Trinamool Congress, said.

Mamata said she would personally take up the matter with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, while her party MPs would go to Assam to take first-hand stock of the situation.

"Where will the 40 lakh people whose names have been deleted go? Does the Centre have any rehabilitation programme for them? Ultimately it is Bengal which will suffer. Its just vote politics by BJP," she said.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi has accused both the Assam and central governments, which are run by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), for mishandling the exercise of NRC, which led to fears of deportation of four million people.

In a Facebook post, the Congress chief said: "The National Register of Citizens (NRC) was initiated by the UPA under Manmohan Singh Ji to fulfil the commitment made in the Assam Accord of 1985. However, the manner in which this exercise has been undertaken by the BJP Governments at the centre and in the State of Assam leaves much to be desired.

"There are reports pouring in from all corners of Assam of Indian citizens finding their names missing in the draft NRC, creating massive insecurity in the state. Clearly, after spending close to 1,200 Cr, the execution of this critical and highly sensitive exercise has been tardy. The Government must move swiftly to resolve this crisis.

"I appeal to all members of the Congress party to help maintain peace and help all those against whom an injustice has been done in the draft NRC, no matter what their religion, caste, gender, linguistic group or political affiliation."