The AIUDF on Sunday claimed the state government might have put pressure on the National Register of Citizens (NRC) authority to derail the process by “serving thousands of notices within a short period of time”.

AIUDF general secretary Aminul Islam said it was very inconvenient for people from lower Assam districts to attend hearings in faraway Upper Assam towns in 24 to 36 hours. He also hinted the state government might put pressure on NRC coordinator Prateek Hajela in this regard.

“With the shocking incidents taking place in some selected places, we are bound to think that some forces with vested interests are working to derail the NRC update. How can a poor family from a Barpeta village go to Sivasagar within 24 or even 36 hours? It would cause extreme inconvenience to the poor families,” Islam told reporters here.

He said at least 25,000 people in “selected” areas in Kamrup and Barpeta districts and have been asked to be present for hearing within 24 to 36 hours.

“After the Supreme Court rejected the plea of the Centre and state government for re-verification of applicants, how can such a huge number of notices be suddenly served to people in lower Assam? When the notice is served, the entire family has to be present at the hearing. There are some families who may not have ever gone out of Barpeta. How will they arrange to go to faraway places in such a short time? Its a huge burden on poor families. They (NRC authorities) could have conducted the hearing within the district or even in the neighbouring districts. We smell something fishy here,” Islam said.

Asked who could behind the move, Islam said as Hajela is an employee of the state government, he might have played a role.

He went on to say that if things continue to be like this, it was very unlikely that an error-free NRC will be published.

On Saturday, former chief minister and veteran Congress leader Tarun Gogoi made similar allegations against the ruling BJP for not being sincere enough about the NRC update.