The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday reiterated that the National Register of Citizen (NRC) will be implemented across India a la Assam.
The BJP’s election manifesto released on Monday stated, “There has been a huge change in the cultural and linguistic identity of some areas due to illegal immigration, resulting in an adverse impact on locals’ livelihood and employment.”
The manifesto further stated, “We will expeditiously complete the NRC process in these areas on a priority basis. In future, we will implement the NRC in a phased manner in other parts of the country,” said BJP’s election manifesto.
The manifesto was released at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, union home minister Rajnath Singh, minister of external affairs Sushma Swaraj and BJP chief Amit Shah, among others.
The manifesto said that the party will continue to undertake effective steps to prevent illegal immigration in the northeastern states.
“For this, we will further strengthen security along the border. A pilot project on the use of technology to strengthen border security (smart fencing) was implemented in Dhubri in Assam. We will implement this across all border areas,” the manifesto promised.
The manifesto said that the party will focus on boosting development and setting up necessary infrastructure in the border areas to ensure that border security is strengthened, and to “enable increased participation of and benefits for border areas in the country’s development and progress”.
“We have completed building six integrated checkposts with another one under construction to facilitate trade with the neighbouring countries. We will further ease the movement of goods and people by constructing 14 more integrated checkposts by 2024. After completion of all the proposed integrated checkposts, all trade movement with Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan will be conducted through the integrated checkposts,” the manifesto stated.