BJP ally INPT may move Supreme Court seeking NRC for Tripura

The Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) is likely to be a petitioner before the Supreme Court, joining the plea to demand the introduction of an Assam-type National Register of Citizens in Tripura.

The Supreme Court had earlier issued a notice to the government on a public interest litigation to update the register in Tripura. A three-judge bench, led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, directed the court registry to tag the petition, filed by the Tripura People’s Front and some others, along with petitions in the Assam NRC case.

INPT is a partner in the BJP-led coalition government in Tripura. The party is demanding the introduction of the NRC in Tripura.


Senior party leader Jagdish Debbarma told ET: “We are willing to be a petitioner in the NRC case, and we are discussing the legalities. We met former union minister Salman Khurshid to discuss the issue and he assured that after the Supreme Court holidays are over, the petition will be filed.”

Even Pradyot Kishore Deb Burman, scion of Tripura’s Manikya royal family, has decided to move the Supreme Court demanding NRC.

Recently, the INPT delegation had met Union Home minister Rajnath Singh. Members of the delegation claimed that Singh had assured them the government would look into the demand for the implementation of NRC in Tripura. The home ministry, however, clarified that no assurance of any kind was given by the minister.

“It is categorically asserted that no decision has been taken on the issue of NRC in Tripura,” A Bharat Bhushan Babu, spokesperson of the ministry, tweeted.

INPT claims that Tripura’s demographic profile has changed due to unbridled immigration. Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb had earlier stated that there was no need for NRC in Tripura.

However, Deb said earlier this month that he would go in for NRC in his state if the exercise were to be successfully implemented in Assam.