A Correspondent
SHILLONG: Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh on Monday lashed out at the BJP and RSS for trying to implement the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the country.
Ramesh along with other AICC members like Mukul Wasnik, Jitender Singh, Manikandan Tagore MP, were in the city to take stock of the sentiments of the people of the State over issues like CAB and NRC.
Speaking to reporters, Ramesh said, “The CAB and the NRC are the project of the BJP and the RSS to polarize and divide the country on communal lines.”
On the CAB, Ramesh said that the Congress party is “firmly, strongly and clearly” opposed to it.
The senior Congress leader also said that the CAB violates Article 14 and 21 of the Constitution.
Pointing out that the whole of the northeastern region, including the State Governments and other political parties and citizens are opposed to the CAB, Ramesh said that the Congress at the national level will fight against it.
“It will change the very nature of India,” Ramesh said.
On the issue of NRC, the Congress said that its implementation in Assam was a historical legacy.
“It was part of the 1951 census and the 1985 Assam Accord,” he added.
Ramesh also said that but to repeat NRC in other States of the country it needs a lot of home work and a political climate too needs to be created.
“There is a need to ensure that NRC does not become an instrument of harassment,” Jairam Ramesh added.
On the Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security Act (MRSSA), 2016, the Congress leader hit out at the State Government saying that the Act was passed in 2016 and the present NPP-led coalition government all of a sudden realized to make amendments to it.
“The amendments needs public debate and consensus of all political parties ,” Ramesh said.