Himanta Sarma's Swipe At Opposition Over Asking “Ram Bhakt” Question On NRC

Guwahati:

An Opposition MLA today questioned Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in the state assembly over the National Register of Citizens (NRC) process, which has been paused since 2019, leaving many “Ram bhakts” without the means to apply for job or ration cards.

Congress MLA Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha brought up the issue of “Ram bhakts” unable to apply for Aadhaar since their biometrics are blocked till the NRC exercise is complete.

“The NRC final draft was published on August 31, 2019 but many people were left out. Due to biometrics blocked for the pending NRC, they cannot apply for job and ration cards. The Ram bhakts have no Aadhaar cards and are facing problems. I request the Chief Minister, when would the Ram bhakts get Aadhaar?” Mr Purkayastha said in the assembly.

Mr Sarma, taking the question head-on, took a swipe at the Opposition in his reply, “The government has been doing certain things for Ram bhakts, but when we work to solve problems, some people sitting in front of us may create problems.”

“The Supreme Court asked us to collect 27 lakh biometrics, and we have collected them. The whole data will be preserved, and people will get Aadhaar… We know the NRC was done, but the final process has not completed yet,” Mr Sarma said.

The Assam government in its budget has made a special allocation to take 25,000 devotees from the state to the new Ram temple in Ayodhya. The budget also includes plays themed on Lord Ram for children in Assam.