Vowing to Fight NRC Tooth and Nail, Mamata Banerjee Set to Lead Protests Against Centre's 'Botched-up Process'

New Delhi: Going all out against the final list of National Register of Citizens, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday will lead protest march in Kolkata.

Over 19 lakh applicants failed to make it to the final NRC list, 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 Coordinator's office had said.

Calling the updated list a 'fiasco', Banerjee had earlier said, "My heart goes out to all those, especially the large number of Bengali speaking brothers and sisters, who are made to suffer because of this botched-up process."

On Tuesday, Union Minister Smriti Irani had hit out at the CM for her opposition to the NRC, saying that the BJP-led government at the Centre is committed to protecting the rights of each and every citizen of the country. The illegal infiltrators will be dealt with as per law, she asserted.

"No Indian will be left out... we are dedicated towards protecting the rights of the citizens of the country," the union minister said on NRC. Criticising Banerjee for her opposition to the NRC, Irani said, it proves the dichotomy on her stand on illegal immigrants. The chief minister's opposition to policies of the central government are well known to the people, she said.

Banerjee has been a vocal critic of the NRC and has repeatedly questioned the Narendra Modi government's motive behind the move. The West Bengal government also recently passed a resolution in the assembly, sending out a strong message to the BJP that her party will go all out to oppose it.