Updated December 26th, 2019 at 16:05 IST
'What is this?' 2018 Congress video declaring "NRC is our Baby" leads to big questions
A 2018 video has surfaced on social media where a Congress spokesperson Surjewala has admitted that the contentious NRC was the "baby of the Congress party”
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Amid the fierce back and forth between the Opposition and the NDA government over the National Register of Citizens (NRC), a video from has resurfaced on social media, from the official Congress handles, where the party not only backs the NRC but also takes ownership of it in no uncertain terms, calling it the "baby of the Congress party”.
The video shows Congress media chief Randeep Surjewala addressing a press conference alongside now-Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot back in August 2018. This comes at a time when the two parties have deployed resources to counter each other on the NRC issue by digging up old videos to target each other.
“The NRC is the baby of the Congress party,” chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said. The Congress had accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of “befooling” people by politicising the exercise. It also alleged that the Centre wanted to deflect public attention from government's "failures", including bank scams.
READ | 'No NRC' Talk Just A Tactical Retreat: Prashant Kishor Claims SC Could Open Floodgates
Darjeeling BJP MP Raju Bista tweets video
कांग्रेस का NRC पर फैलाया गया झूठ का प्रोपोगेंडा फेल हो गया, देखिए कैसे सुरजेवाला खुद बता रहे हैं कि - "NRC is Our Baby Boy"@BJP4Bengal#NRC
— Raju Bista (@RajuBistaBJP) December 26, 2019
Read full story - https://t.co/dLpLi6lfoZ pic.twitter.com/oqjz3WgLAu
READ | Union Minister Naqvi Slams Opposition For Creating Divisive Environment Over CAA, NRC, NPR
NRC started by UPA
Surjewala had in the press conference said the NRC process was initiated by Congress governments in Assam and at the Centre in 2005 to identify the foreigners, who had illegally entered India. This he said was in accordance with the historic Assam Accord of 1985. He informed that the UPA government under PM Manmohan Singh sanctioned Rs 489 crore and proceeded to appoint 25,000 enumerators for the NRC process in 2009.
It was the Tarun Gogoi-led Congress government of Assam, Surjewala said, which completed 80% of the NRC process by May 2016, and the exercise is being monitored by the Supreme Court since August 2014. “The Congress party will ensure that no Indian citizens are deprived of his legitimate right. The Congress stands committed to help and assist every Indian Citizen in this endeavour,” he had said.
READ | BJP 'doing Politics' Over NRC, CAA, While Country Faces Economic Slowdown: Pilot
Reactions
Reacting to the video, Atif Rasheed, National Minorities Commission member, took to Twitter to criticise Congress and Rahul Gandhi. "What is this? @RahulGandhi Ji will not say anything on this. Will the Congress do Satyagraha on this statement of @rssurjewala or something else to deceive Muslims with a duplicity policy on TV!"
यह क्या है @RahulGandhi जी इस पर भी अप कुछ बोलेंगे की नहीं @rssurjewala के इस बयान पर कांग्रेस क्या सत्यगृह करेगी या मुसलानों के बीच कुछ और tv पर कुछ दोगली नीति पर ही चलेगी !
— Atif Rasheed (@AtifBjp) December 25, 2019
वह क़त्ल भी करते हैँ तो चर्चा नहीं होती
हम आह भी करते हैँ तो हो जाते हैँ बदनाम @narendramodi@AmitShah pic.twitter.com/uP6M7N3pxq
BJP youth wing leader Devang Dave also took a jibe at Congress over the video. "NRC is our Baby says @INCIndia. Why the uproar now? When you do it, it's correct; when we do it, it's wrong?"
सब आपका ही किया धराया हैं भाई .....
— Devang Dave (@DevangVDave) December 25, 2019
NRC is our Baby says @INCIndia
तोह फिर अब हंगामा किस बात का?
तुम करो तोह सही, हम करे तोह गलत??#CongressNRC pic.twitter.com/e3L9D6U4o9
READ | "NPR First, Then NRC" Reiterates Owaisi Even As HM Clarifies On Rumours Linking Both
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Published December 26th, 2019 at 16:05 IST
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