Assam CM Himanta's Warning Ahead Of Jharkhand Polls: 'Those Who Don't Feature On NRC...'

The BJP has vowed to expel all "foreigners" from Jharkhand, including those not on the NRC. The voter lists will be checked from 2001, and only first-time voters will be scrutinized.

The BJP, which has made the 'outsiders' issue a plank has issued a warning to all 'foreigners' in Jharkhand. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is campaigning for the BJP for assembly elections in Jharkhand, said that every foreigner would be thrown out of India.

"Any person, whose name does not feature on the National Register of Citizens [NRC], would be thrown out of India to Bangladesh. This will be our policy," "Of course, everyone would be given a fair chance to prove their citizenship when the NRC is compiled. Everything would be done as per the law. If you can't prove yourself to be an Indian citizen, you will be pushed out to Bangladesh," he said. The state of Jharkhand was carved out of southern Bihar in 2000 after a long agitation for statehood.

Asked about the procedure to filter out the names of alleged foreigners from the voter list, CM Himanta said the voter lists will be scrutinised from 2001. "Every person will have to prove their origins and tell the tribunal where they were registered before 2001," he said.

Muslim Population Has Increased: Himanta

He said locals would be spared of the scrutiny process. "Only the families whose names have appeared on the voters' list for the first time, would be subject to scrutiny," Himanta added.

He said that the population of advasi communities has come down while the number of Muslims has increased in the past few years. Blaming the Congress-JMM alliance for the alleged demography change, Himanta said: "Hemant Soren is drunk with power and greed. He doesn't worry about advasis. The day JMM-Cong starts action against infiltrators in Jharkhand, I will stop talking on this issue."

BJP To Ally With JD(U), AJSUP For Jharkhand Assembly Elections

Himanta said the BJP has decided to ally with the Janata Dal (United) and All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) Party. "The seat-sharing formula is almost final. Discussion for 1-2 seats is pending. We will announce the alliance after the Pitru Paksha ends," he said.

What Is The Status Of The NRC In Assam?

On the status of the Assam NRC process, CM Himanta said that the first phase is over and 14 lakh foreigners had been identified. "We have now approached the Supreme Court to conduct a similar exercise in the border areas again. We want to conduct the exercise with a 20% sample. The figure of 14 lakh would increase if we get permission from the court," he said.