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.
Raghubar 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 Parkur and Sahebgunj 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.
Raghubar 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 as 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," Mr Das alleged.
JMM leaders could not be contacted for their comments.
Mr 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, he said.
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.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
