AGARTALA, Nov 22 - Backing the proposed nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB), Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb has assured that these would not have any adverse impact on the ethnically sensitive State. This was the first time that Deb, who is also the State BJP president, has publicly supported the NRC and the CAB.
�The citizens of the State used to have citizenship certificates till the late 1990s, which was not required in other parts of the country. There is absolutely no need to be scared of the NRC exercise,� he said while speaking at a programme at the Rabindra Bhavan here last night.
Deb also tried to clear doubts on the CAB, stating that the Government had not brought the Bill in the Lok Sabha yet. The Chief Minister said the citizens of the State would be given six months to submit their names along with relevant papers. He said minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, whose ancestors lived in India, would get a chance to enrol their names in the NRC. The Chief Minister hoped that the NRC and the CAB would be able to find a lasting solution to the citizenship problem.
BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav was also present at the function.
