The BJP manifesto for Assam elections promised to detect the "infiltrators" by completing the NRC update exercise and protect Indian citizens but did not mention the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Flood control, delimitation exercise to protect political rights of Assam, a corrected NRC, jobs and cash handouts featured in the BJP's list of 10 'sankalps' (commitments) in the manifesto released on Tuesday by BJP President J P Nadda. It also included promises of Rs 2.5 lakh to all 'naamghars' (Vaishnavite prayer halls), a mission project for the welfare of children, land rights to the landless citizens, a push to entrepreneurship in the state and another mission project to make Assam Atmanirbhar (self-sufficient).
The manifesto steered clear of the CAA, a sensitive topic for the party in the state. But when asked by a journalist, Nadda said the CAA was already passed by the Parliament and BJP was committed to its implementation.
The Congress-led grand alliance of seven opposition parties has made CAA a focus of their campaign against BJP and its regional allies. Congress on Monday dared PM Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and Nadda to include a promise to implement the CAA in its manifesto in Assam like it did in West Bengal.
Flood control is the first among the 10 commitments in the BJP manifesto. "People of Assam suffer from floods every year. So, we will take innovative and scientific ways to provide relief to people. Be it dredging of the rivers, management of the tributaries or storage of flood waters in big reservoirs for use in other purposes, we will take all possible steps to control flood in the next five years," Nadda said.
On the NRC, Nadda said a "corrected NRC" would be one of the top priorities of the BJP-led government. "Genuine citizens will be protected while the infiltrators will be detected to protect Assam's civilisation," he said.
A total of 19.06 lakh people were left out of the updated list of the NRC, which was released in July 2019. The BJP government in the state refused to accept it and moved the Supreme Court seeking a re-verification of 20 per cent applications in districts bordering Bangladesh and 10 per cent in the rest of the state.
BJP says the "final list" left out genuine citizens while "ineligible persons" made it to the list. Sources said the saffron party was unhappy as nearly 10 lakh Hindus were reportedly left out of the NRC.
When asked about Congress' promise to scrap CAA, Nadda said Congress was making a false promise as the CAA was a central act and can not be stopped by state legislation.
Assam goes for Assembly elections in three phases on March 27, April 1 and April 6.