Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Saturday chaired a high-level meeting with senior party colleagues here on Saturday to discuss the issue of National Register of Citizens as the party was keen that genuine Indian citizens should not be left out. The leaders expressed concern over list that was released on Saturday leaving out about 19 lakh people and the meeting resolved that the government should ensure that every genuine citizen, regardless of religion, should be protected by the State. Among those present at the meeting were leader of the party in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Choudhury, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Gaurav Gogoi, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, A K Antony, former Chief Minister of Meghalaya Mukul M. Sangma among others. Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi later said, “We have briefed the president and the party about the present situation and we are waiting for the official statement. We have submitted the report. Just wait for the official statement from the party” Choudhary also said “Do not remove any of the genuine citizens from the NRC list and everyone should be protected. We have only these two demands. There was a lengthy discussion on the issue in the meeting.” “It would be wrong for any real citizen to leave the country. Also, their security is the responsibility of the government,” Sangma said. The final list of National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam was published on Saturday, excluding over 19 lakh people. Over three crore people have been found eligible for inclusion in the final NRC, Prateek Hajela, the State Coordinator of the NRC, said in an official statement. When the draft NRC was published on July 30, 2018, there was a huge controversy over the exclusion of 40.7 lakh people from it.
