Will discuss NRC with Centre, says Karnataka home minister Basavaraj Bommai

The Karnataka government is collecting information on immigrants in the state and will proceed on working toward Assam-like National Register of Citizens (NRC) after a discussion with the central government, its home minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Thursday.

“There is a talk on the implementation of NRC across India. We are one of the states where people across the border have come and settled down. We are collecting information and will discuss with Union home ministry and go ahead,” Basavaraj Bommai said.

The state home minister had said on Wednesday that the Karnataka government has already held two meetings on the issue.

“Especially in Bengaluru and other cities, people have come from other states and countries in large numbers. Some of them have even been involved in criminal activities, this has come to our notice. We will soon take a decision on this, we will take a decision this week,” Bommai had said in Haveri.

Bommai’s comments on the citizenship screening exercise come after Union home minister Amit Shah’s repeated call for a nationwide NRC. Several other party leaders from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Tripura have also demanded the exercise across the country.

The final NRC for Assam, published on August 31, had excluded 1.9 million of the 33 million applicants. Many political parties and groups have denounced the list saying it has included names of illegal immigrants while indigenous people have been left out.