'Notebandi 2.0': RaGa fires fresh salvo at Modi over NRC/NPR
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday slammed the government over the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the National Population Register (NPR). Comparing the two to the infamous 2016 demonetization exercise, Gandhi said that the NRC and NPR will prove to be even more disastrous. He made the statement at the Congress Delhi headquarters on the sidelines of the party's 135th foundation day event.
Poor will face brunt of NRC and NPR, says Gandhi
Before heading to Assam's Guwahati for the 'Save Constitution-Save India' protest, Gandhi told reporters at Congress headquarters that NRC and NPR are "notebandi 2" (demonetization 2). He said the NRC and NPR will impact the nation's impoverished so grievously that they will forget about demonetization. The 49-year-old went ahead and said NRC and NPR would be "twice as worse" as demonetization.
'Modi's friends wouldn't have to show any documents'
Gandhi said, "The basic idea (behind NRC and NPR) is to ask every poor citizen to prove whether or not they are, in fact, citizens of India." He, further, added, "PM Modi's 15 friends wouldn't have to show any documents. Whatever money is generated will go into the pockets of these 15 people."
Gandhi also spoke on BJP's "master of lies" jibe
Referring to Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Sambit Patra's "master of lies" comment directed at him, Gandhi told reporters to revisit his statement and decide for themselves who's lying. Patra's remark came after Gandhi accused PM Modi of lying about detention centers.
What had Gandhi said about PM Modi?
On Thursday, Gandhi tweeted a BBC Hindi video saying, "The Prime Minister of the RSS lies to Mother India." The video showed footage of Modi claiming there are no detention centers in India along with footage from the under-construction detention center in Assam. Modi had accused the Congress of spreading white lies about detention centers and Gandhi called him a liar back.
You can see Gandhi's tweet here
What is NRC and what is NPR?
The NRC is a register to enumerate the citizens of India while the NPR is a register of usual residents. A usual resident is a person who has resided in a local area for at least six months and will continue to reside in said area for the following six months or more. Evidently, the NPR is the first step towards implementing NRC.
What are the issues with NRC and NPR?
The NRC sparked fears among people after the exercise in Assam excluded 1.9 million of 33 million residents out of the final list. The Centre then announced plans to implement NRC across India, fuelling nationwide tensions. The Centre later backtracked, claiming they announced no such plans. However, the Centre on Tuesday green-lit NPR and said it wasn't related to NRC—another misleading claim.
NRC/NPR debate intensified over Citizenship Act's amendment
The uproar over NRC and NPR intensified over the backdrop of the amendment of the Citizenship Act. The Centre passed an amendment to the Act earlier this month, which seeks to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslim illegal immigrants.
