Rahul Gandhi concedes that Manmohan Singh ordered Assam NRC updation but slams Modi government's implementation

Rahul Gandhi has jumped into the raging debate that was triggered on Monday following the release of the second and final draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) for Assam which contained names of 2.89 crore of the 3.29 crore people who applied but excluded 40.07 lakh others.

Taking to Facebook, the Congress president has tried to play a balancing act, seeing as it was the UPA under Manmohan Singh that ordered the updation of the NRC for Assam in 2005 before the Supreme Court issued an order regarding the same in 2013. In his post, Rahul Gandhi has slammed the Modi government alleging that the manner in which exercise was undertaken has left "much to be desired".

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Here is Rahul Gandhi's complete post:

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.

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As can be seen, the Congress president has highlighted what West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had in her combative press conference earlier in the day, regarding purportedly legitimate Indian citizens being excluded, though he hasn't been nearly as detailed in his criticism, eventually settling on the word 'tardy', meaning slow.

Following that, he has continued in his recent vein of appealing to Congress members to help maintain peace and help those against whom injustice has been done without discrimination.

Earlier, shortly after the NRC draft had been released, the Congress had alleged that the BJP was trying to polarise Assam, with the party's Assam chief Ripun Bora saying that people had been excluded on flimsy ground.

Meanwhile, former Assam Chief Minister and Congress leader Tarun Gogoi had also tried to attack the BJP over the development while simultaneously attempting to gloss over his own role in the NRC's updation:

"I'm both happy and sad. Happy that it was my brainchild but sad that many genuine Indians have been left out. I am not politicising the issue, I'm raising concern for these 40 lakh people. It's my job as a politician to raise it."

The updation was taken up under the the Citizenship Act of 1955 as per rules framed in the Assam Accord, which was a Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) signed in 1985 between the government of India and leaders of the Assam Movement -- a six-year-long agitation by the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) that was held in New Delhi demanding identification and deportation of illegal immigrants.

The Home Minister had countered criticism from Opposition parties by submitting in Parliament that the exercise had been undertaken under the supervision of the Supreme Court and that the Congress and All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) were indulging in unnecessary fearmongering.