Day After Kejriwal's 'First to Leave' Dig at Manoj Tiwari Over NRC, BJP Takes Fight to CM's Door

New Delhi: Members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday protested outside the residence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, a day after he took a dig at party leader Manoj Tiwari and said the Bihar-born MP would be the first to leave the city if NRC was implemented.

Tiwari has been calling for a verification drive in the national capital on the lines of the one in Assam, which led to the exclusion of 19 million people. After a journalist was attacked in a South Delhi neighbourhood on Sunday, Tiwari attributed the attack to "infiltrators". Last month too, the BJP leader had said that the situation in Delhi had become "dangerous" due to the presence of a "large number" of illegal immigrants including Bangladeshis and Rohingyas who, he said, are found to be involved in crimes.

Kejriwal, while addressing a press conference on Wednesday said: “If NRC is implemented in Delhi, Manoj Tiwari will have to first leave Delhi."

However, Tiwari hit back at the Delhi chief minister almost immediately and said, "If I am illegal, then is Kejriwal implying that every purvanchali is illegal? You want to throw them out of Delhi too? NRC identifies illegal immigrants, that is people who are from outside India and not from other parts of India. What the CM said will now be answered by the people of Delhi."

While the NRC process was driven by the Supreme Court, the exercise has seen vigorous politics around it, with the BJP and the opposition embroiled in a war of words.

Accusing the BJP of creating panic over NRC, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had claimed that the spectre of National Register of Citizens implementation has led to six deaths in the state.

Addressing a trade unions' meet, the TMC supremo iterated she will not allow NRC exercise in the state. "NRC exercise will not be carried out in Bengal or anywhere else in country, it was conducted in Assam due to Assam accord. "Shame on the BJP for creating panic over NRC in Bengal, it has led to six deaths. Have faith in me, I will never allow the exercise in Bengal. BJP should stop spreading false rumours and canards over NRC.