Karnataka Government Considering Implementing Citizens' List: Minister

Bengaluru: The BJP government in Karnataka is considering preparing an Assam-like National Register of Citizens (NRC) list in the state, Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Thursday.

"A very big talk is going on regarding the implementation of NRC across India. Karnataka is one of the states where people from across the border are coming and settling down. There are lots of issues here. Therefore we are collecting all the information. We will discuss with the Union Home Minister and then go ahead," Mr Bommai said.

Home Minister Amit Shah recently said that the NRC exercise will be conducted throughout the country and all illegal immigrants will be "thrown out".

Two meetings were held over the state's NRC plan, Mr Bommai said on Wednesday.

"I have asked senior officials to study the law. In Bengaluru and other big cities, foreigners have come and settled. It has come to our notice that they indulge in crime, and some of them have been arrested as well. We will take a clear decision (on NRC) this week," he had said.

When the BJP was in opposition, it had opposed the alleged influx of Bangladeshi migrants in Bengaluru.

In August, the final NRC list was published and 19 lakh people were omitted from it. They will not be called foreigners until they have exhausted their legal options, the centre had said.

Out of those excluded from the list, 12 lakh are Hindus.

During his recent Kolkata visit, Mr Shah had said that Hindu, Sikh, Jain and Buddhist refugees will be given citizenship after the Citizenship (Amendment) bill gets passed in parliament.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has promised that she will not let the centre conduct the NRC exercise in the state.