The CPM on Thursday reiterated its opposition to the Centre’s proposed move to carry out the National Register of Citizens (NRC) process across India.

Union home minister Amit Shah on Wednesday in the Rajya Sabha said, “The process of NRC will be carried out across the country. No one, irrespective of their religion, should be worried. It is just a process to get everyone under the NRC.” He added that the exercise would be carried out once again in Assam.

The CPM termed the move “unnecessary” and “a wasteful process”.

“Though Shah has not specified when the fresh NRC process will be undertaken, it is likely to start with the enumeration for the National Population Register (NPR), scheduled to begin on April 1 next year. The NRC will be finalised on the basis of the NPR. When the Aadhaar and election photo identity cards are there, the countrywide NRC is an unnecessary and wasteful process. It is meant only to fulfil the ruling party’s agenda to target certain sections of people who are branded as ‘foreigners’,” a press statement of the party said.

The CPM said new NRC will only serve the BJP’s agenda of dividing people on communal lines.

“The Citizenship Act, 1955, doesn’t allow the Centre to change the NRC cut-off date at whim. The government should not play with the security of lakhs of citizens in Assam for political gains. Instead, the central government should initiate a simple process to include the Indian citizens, who were excluded from the NRC,” CPM leader Suprakash Talukdar told The Telegraph.

“The NRC was updated under the supervision of the Supreme Court. The entire process incurred an expenditure of Rs 1,600 crore. Indian citizens, who were excluded from the register, should be included now,” the statement added. “Another similar exercise will impose new burden on hundreds of officials and cause insecurity among people,” it said.

The cut-off date for inclusion in the NRC was the midnight of March 24, 1971, as per the 1985 Assam Accord. Altogether 19.06 lakh applicants were excluded from the NRC published on August 31 this year.