Sonowal to breastfeed NRC I gave birth to: Gogoi

We doubt government's sincerity in NRC update, says APCC

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, Nov 17: Former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, who claims to have given birth to NRC, says that the citizenship document is suffering from malnutrition as his successor does not ‘breastfeed’ it.

The Congress on Friday reacted sharply to the Register General of India’s (RGI) plea to the Supreme Court of India, seeking extension of the deadline for publication of draft NRC up to July 31, 2018. At present the deadline for publication of the draft NRC, as set by the apex court, is December 31, 2017. The apex court is yet to respond to the RGI’s plea.

Talking to the media at Rajiv Bhawan here on Friday, Gogoi said: “It’s intentiol. It has been proved beyond doubt that solution to the foreigners issue isn’t what the BJP government wants to. NRC update was my government’s decision taken in 2005. However, the BJP government has slowed down the process. Let the BJP government publish a white paper on what my government did for NRC update vis-à-vis what the present dispensation has done. Chief Minister Sarbanda Sonowal’s assurance on making Assam free from foreigners is just a lip service. It’s certain that the BJP government isn’t going to publish the fil NRC before 2019. They may publish the draft NRC before that.”

Reacting to Sonowal’s recent statement that the government is not going to spare anyone putting hurdles in the process of NRC update in the State, Gogoi said: “It’s good to act against those putting hurdles in NRC work. At the same time action should also be taken against those who delay NRC update work as well. Nobody should be spared, be him the State NRC coorditor or the Chief Minister.”

The media then asked Gogoi as to why his government failed to update NRC from 2005 to 2016, the former chief minister said: “Yes, I failed. And they’re delaying the entire process now. I gave birth to NRC. It’s Sonowal’s turn to breastfeed it. He has failed to do so, and as such NRC is suffering from malnutrition. The BJP wants to get NRC updated only after the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Bill.”

Earlier in the day, APCC president Ripun Bora said, also at Rajiv Bhawan: “State NRC Coorditor Prateek Hajela himself told the apex court to be able to publish the draft NRC by December 31, 2017. And the Supreme Court of India agreed to that. Hajela was also on record telling the court to publish a foolproof NRC, including the me of each and every Indian. How come the RGI says now that the draft NRC is full of errors, and that it will take more time? We doubt the sincerity of the government on the issue.”