Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday claimed that the contentious citizenship amendment act (CAA) will prove to be “completely insignificant” in his state which will see the “least number of applicants” trying to acquire citizenship through the contentious legislation.

Sarma made the above observations in Guwahati in an apparent bid to counter the narrative or allay fears of the anti-CAA brigade which has launched protests or has threatened to launch mass agitations against the “unconstitutional” law that threatens the identity/language of the Assamese people in the long run by providing citizenship to infiltrators.

The CAA expedites the process of granting Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslims from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who entered India without papers before December 31, 2014.

“If you have come before the cut-off date then why you have not applied for the NRC? In other states, if a person has entered in 2021 and claims he has entered in 2014, there is no proof (no mechanism to check). In Assam, it has been proved — that I (applicant) entered before 2014 that is why I have applied for the NRC. Therefore, Assam will see the least number of applicants.”