Kargil veteran Sanaullah, Sitting MLA left out of NRC
Guwahati, Aug 31: A Kargil veteran, a sitting and an ex-MLA of the AIUDF were among those whose names were excluded from the final NRC, which was released here on Saturday.
The daughter of Congress MLA Ilias Ali too found her name missing though the legislator and his other family members made it to the updated list.
Kargil war veteran and retired army officer Mohammad Sanaullah, who spent a few days in detention in May after being declared a foreigner by a tribunal, was excluded from the updated list.
Sanaullah's two daughters and a son were reportedly not included, though his wife's name appeared in the list, which validates bona fide Indian citizens in Assam.
AIUDF MLA Ananta Kumar Malo, representing Abhayapuri South assembly constituency in Bongaigaon district, said he could not find his name in the final NRC.
"My son's name is also not in the NRC final list," the legislator claimed.
Malo's party colleague Ataur Rahman Mazarbhuyan is another prominent exclusion.
"The Constitution defines who is a citizen of India and I have all the necessary documents to prove it. I have been a two-time MLA from Katigorah. This is harassment and the NRC is flawed," Mazarbhuyan said.
The former MLA said he would take legal option and go to the Foreigners Tribunal to get his name included in the NRC.
The updated final NRC has excluded over 19 lakh applicants who are now staring at an uncertain future.
A total of 3,30,27,661 people had applied to be included in the NRC. Of them, 3,11,21,004 have been included in the document and 19,06,657 excluded, a statement from the NRC State Coordinators office said here.
In a twist of fate, a school teacher who was deputed in an NRC Seva Kendra (NSK) in the city, failed the citizenship test.
Declining to identify herself, the woman said she has been working in the NSK for the past three years and had presented all necessary documents - her father's legacy data, her education qualification certificates as well as the service documents of her father, who works with Indian Oil Corporation, to prove her citizenship.
In Silchar, Rabindra Debroy, former publisher of the daily Gati, said he was excluded from the final NRC despite having legacy data of 1955 and 1971.
"The names of my wife and other family members were included," the 74-year-old said.
At Uriamguri in Sonitpur district, Sabdul Islam and three members of his family did not make it to the list as also Raton Ghosh and his wife Beauty.
The list of exclusions included 56-year old Samir Poddar of Dolhat Bazar in Lakhimpur district and three members of his family as well as the family members of Arati Bala Baishya of Morowa village in Nalbari district.
Phulendra Das, who visited the Morowa NRC Sewa Kendra expressed resentment over exclusion of his name as well as those of his family members.
Das said they were called for hearing to Mukalmua where they produced all their documents but their names were not included in the final NRC.
"I am a daily wage labourer. How can my poor family fight the legal battle to get our names in the NRC," he asked.
65-year-old Lila Rani Dey, a retired nurse of Assam health department who hails from Hailakandi district, is frustrated at the exclusion of her name even after she had provided the citizenship certificate of her father.
Names of her brothers and sisters were, however, included in the document.
Usha Devi Todi, a widow living with her son at Dhubri town, too found herself out of the list.
"I am a poor widow and therefore it is not possible for me to continue the legal fight to include my name", she said in despair.
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UDF will have huge win in Kerala, NDA won't open its account: Cong leader Satheesan
Kochi (PTI): Senior Congress leader V D Satheesan on Friday expressed confidence in a huge win by the UDF, claiming it will make a clean sweep in five districts, and brushed aside speculations that the NDA will open its account in Kerala.
Satheesan, speaking to reporters here a day after the conclusion of the Assembly polls, praised the performance of the UDF leaders and workers during the election, saying it was the best ever he has seen in the last 30 years.
He said that his claims of the UDF getting over 100 seats is not a mere statement, but based on the work the front has done during the last five years to bring back all those who had left it in 2005 and as a result, there was a huge wave in its favour in the state.
The leader of opposition in the state assembly, who contested from the Paravoor constituency, further said that the Congress-led front also had a major social backing from minorities and marginalised groups in the society.
Besides that, there was an anti-incumbency feeling among the people who were disappointed with the LDF rule, he claimed and said that the UDF provided them with a hope and an alternative which no other opposition had done in the past.
"All these factors will contribute to a huge win for the UDF and it would not be surprising if we make a clean sweep in Malappuram, Wayanad, Ernakulam, Idukki and Pathanamthitta districts. That is a total of 43 seats," he said.
According to him, the polling percentage increased because the UDF got people added to the electoral list.
He also brushed aside the LDF remarks about a woman or youth CM, saying that "they can make such statements now as they know they cannot win".
"Otherwise, why did they campaign with Pinarayi Vijayan as the main factor. Why did they say a third Pinarayi rule will come?" he asked.
He also claimed that the LDF's decision to spend government money on its political campaign, by putting up hoardings and carrying out social media programmes to sway voters, has also backfired as people realised that their taxes were being wasted like that.
Asked whether the NDA will open its account, especially in areas where the UDF claimed the BJP-led front had made a deal with the LDF, Satheesan replied in the negative.
He said that as of now he does not see any chance of the NDA opening its account in the state.
