The BJP on Thursday, 26 September, protested outside Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s house after the latter took a swipe at its Delhi-unit chief Manoj Tiwari over the National Register of Citizens (NRC) row.
Kejriwal on Wednesday, 25 September, said that if the National Register of Citizens (NRC) is implemented in the state, the BJP leader will have to be the first to leave the city.
Kejriwal's comments come after Tiwari had said that the situation in Delhi is becoming so dangerous that it is necessary to have an NRC.
“Manoj Tiwari said infiltrators are responsible for the attack on a journalist so NRC should be implemented in Delhi. If NRC is implemented in Delhi then Manoj Tiwari will be the first who will have to leave Delhi,” Kejriwal said while answering a question at the press conference.
WHAT DID MANOJ TIWARI SAY?
When the Assam NRC was published on 31 August, Tiwari had demanded a similar exercise for Delhi to identify illegal immigrants.
“The situation in Delhi is becoming so dangerous that it is necessary to have NRC. Illegal immigrants who have settled here are the most dangerous. We will implement NRC when the time comes,” Tiwari told ANI.
His statements are significant as the Delhi elections are scheduled next year.
HOW TIWARI REACTED TO KEJRIWAL’S DIG
Shortly after Kejriwal’s comments, Tiwari came back with more digs at him.
Tiwari said, “Does he mean to say that those who had come to Delhi from Bihar, from Bengal and other states are ghuspaithiye (infiltrators) Are we all illegal residents of this country? He should clarify.”
He criticised the Delhi chief minister for using ‘unparliamentary words’ and also pointed out that Kejriwal has time and again attacked him personally. “This shows his sanskaar (values) and character. It is not BJP's character to stoop so low,” he added.
HOW OTHER BJP LEADERS ATTACKED KEJRIWAL
Other party leaders also rallied behind their Delhi chief to criticise Kejriwal for his remarks.
BJP leader Kapil Mishra, who was in the AAP, said, “Chief Minister Kejriwal's NRC comment is pointless. He says if there is NRC in Delhi then people from Bihar and UP will have to leave. This is shameful. Some people don't understand that the 'N' in NRC stands for 'National.'”
Ramesh Bidhuri, BJP MP from South Delhi also came forward to defend Tiwari. "Just like his former minister Jitendra Tomar, I suspect that Kejriwal's degree, which made him IRS is a fake one. Did he not know what NRC is? Such statements by him only show that he stands with terrorists with infiltrators and that he wants to garner their votes."
THE BACKDROP
The Assam NRC excluded 19,06,657 people out of the list, while over 3.11 crore were found eligible for inclusion.
Those who are excluded off the list can file appeals before foreigners tribunals.
Similar demands have been made by BJP and NDA leaders in Maharashtra and Haryana, both of which are BJP-ruled states and are scheduled to go for polls on 21 October.
Earlier, this year, Home Minister Amit Shah had pledged to eradicate “termites” — a reference to Bangaldeshi migrants, while addressing a rally in Raiganj, West Bengal in the run up to 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
(With inputs from ANI)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)