Agartala: The Indigenous Nationalist Party of Twipra (INPT) on Saturday demanded update of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Tripura, saying the state's "indigenous people have become outnumbered by migrants".

The party organised a rally and a five-hour sit-in in front of Swami Vivekananda Maidan here in the morning to press for their demand.

INPT president Bijoy Hrankhawl said, "We will go to New Delhi and submit a memorandum to Registrar-General of India Sailesh for the NRC to be updated in Tripura."

Earlier, chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb had said there was no such demand for the NRC to be updated in the state and everyone has valid papers.

The NRC is being updated in Assam to weed out migrants staying illegally in the state. The final draft of the NRC was published by the Assam government on July 30 under the Supreme Court's supervision. The first draft list was published in December 2017. The names of around 40 lakh people were excluded from the complete NRC draft.

Hrankhawl said they cannot allow outsiders to settle in the state at the cost of indigenous communities.

"We are allowing outsiders to settle in Tripura as our state is very small. We have already been outnumbered by migrants. Illegal migration has caused a host of problems, including economic hardships and meagre employment opportunities for us," he said.

On Thursday, Tripura tribal welfare minister Mevar Kumar Jamatia, on the 10th Tipraland Demand Day at Khumulwng, had said the NRC should be revised in Tripura and in other states.

Jamatia is general secretary of the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT), an ally of the BJP in the state government. The IPFT had previously demanded Tipraland, a separate state for the indigenous communities of the state.