Uttar Pradesh (UP) Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has alluded to the possibility of conducting the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise in his state, depending on the need of the hour. He lauded the implementation of the NRC in Assam. Speaking to an English daily, he asserted that NRC was a bold and important step. According to him, it was being implemented phase-wise and the Assam experience would serve as a good example for UP. Maintaining that the NRC was important for national security, he opined that the suffering of the poor, affected by illegal immigration would come to an end. 

Read: Mamata Banerjee Commences Anti-NRC Rally, Opposes NRC In West Bengal

About the NRC

Initially published in 1951, the NRC was specifically demanded in Assam by the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) due to the centuries-old illegal migration of people. The ill-treatment of people in East Pakistan and the subsequent war in 1971 exacerbated the situation as thousands of persons from that region entered Assam. The Assam Accord signed by Rajiv Gandhi in 1985 principally agreed to the AASU’s demand. However, it took decades before the process commenced, after the direction of the Supreme Court. The cut-off date for inclusion in the final NRC list has been fixed as March 24, 1971. Assam’s final list of the NRC was released on August 31, leaving out 19,06,657 people. Overall, 3,11,21,004 people were found eligible for inclusion in the NRC list. According to the 2011 census, the total population of Assam is over 3.11 crore. 

Read: NRC Debate: 'Will Identify And Deport Infiltrators From Every Inch Of The Country,' Says Home Minister Amit Shah In Warning Over Illegal Immigrants In Parliament

The polarized political discourse

While the local state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) including state president Ranjeet Dass and state Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma have expressed their displeasure with the NRC process, the leaders at the national level have reacted differently. Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar remarked that he would initiate the NRC in his state. Interestingly, his predecessor and senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda backed Khattar on this occasion. Similarly, president of Delhi's BJP state unit Manoj Tiwari demanded the implementation of NRC for the capital city. On the other hand, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen supremo Asaduddin Owaisi have vehemently opposed the NRC both in Assam as well as other parts of the country. Recently, India's top Muslim body Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind also spoke in favour of the NRC. 

Read: 'Nation-wide NRC Should Be Implemented,' Says Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind

Read: Assam NRC: 10,000 Paramilitary Troops Deployed Pre List Now Withdrawn