The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Monday said there were anomalies in the National Register of Citizens in Assam and urged the government to remove these before moving forward.

“The final list of the NRC is only a list. It’s not law…. There are some errors and mistakes in it and so the government should remove those and then move forward,” RSS joint general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale said.

The NRC was finalised after a four-year effort, monitored by the Supreme Court.

“There are a large number of illegal migrants from Bangladesh who are settled in Assam and over the years they have managed to secure documents like ration cards, voter cards and Aadhaar cards…. This has made the issue very complex,” Hosabale said, after a three-day annual meet of affiliated outfits.

The state government carried out the exercise on the directive of the court in “nischit samay” (stipulated time), he said. “The state government’s request for more time was not granted by the court,” Hosabale added, appearing to suggest that errors crept in because of the limited time.

BJP general secretary Ram Madhav briefed the closed-door meeting on the NRC. Concerns were raised at the exclusion of only 19 lakh people — the BJP had hoped for around 40 lakh — and a large chunk of them being Hindus. The RSS urged the government to get the citizenship bill passed to ensure Hindus left out of the NRC can get citizenship.