Former Jharkhand chief minister and BJP leader Raghubar Das on Saturday said that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) will be implemented in the state, if the saffron party is voted to power in the next year's assembly polls. Das also claimed that he had, in 2018, written to the Centre for implementation of the NRC in the state in view of the "fast-changing demography of tribal-dominated Santal Paragana region of Jharkhand, particularly in Pakur and Sahibganj districts".
"Rampant infiltration of Bangladeshis has become a great concern and a threat to residents of the region... These illegal migrants from the neighbouring country have married local women and acquired thousands of acres of land in the region," he alleged. The issue of "fast-changing demography" in the Santal Paragana region, comprising Godda, Deoghar, Dumka, Jamtara, Sahibganj and Pakur districts, had already been raised in Parliament, he said.
"Considering the prevailing situation in 2018, I requested the central government to implement the NRC as the situation had become a great concern. The NRC will be implemented if the BJP is elected to power in the 2024 state elections," he told PTI. Das, now the national vice president of BJP, was the chief minister of the state between 2014 and 2019. He also accused the current JMM-led government in the state of "not initiating any action to address the issue of illegal immigrants from the neighbouring country even though the tribal populace in the region has been under threat".
"The Hemant Soren government is following an appeasement policy and infiltrators are being patronised by the JMM dispensation for vote bank," Das alleged.
Reacting to the allegations, JMM spokesperson Mohan Karmakar said, "If Bangladeshis are illegally entering the country, the central government should check at the borders to stop such infiltration. It is not the responsibility of the state government."
He also alleged that the BJP does not have any issue but "creates division within the society on the lines of caste, creed and religions".
"The BJP always plays the Hindutva card before polls to win. They have no agenda but engaged in destabilising non-BJP ruled states, including Jharkhand," he said. Das also said the BJP has already geared up to ensure the party's victory in all 14 parliamentary constituencies in the state in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The saffron party had bagged 12 of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in the 2019 elections, while one seat each went into the kitty of the Congress and the JMM. To a query about the meeting of opposition parties in Patna on Friday, Das said it "will not have any impact on national politics or that of Jharkhand".
"It is an alliance of thugs. Differences within the opposition were visible clearly in the meeting and people of the country are also aware of their intention and motive," the BJP leader alleged.