If NRC is implemented in Delhi then Manoj Tiwari will have to leave first: Kejriwal

Tiwari, who hails from Bihar, has often called for NRC exercise in Delhi in lines of Assam, which left out 19 million people.

He made a fresh demand for a verification drive similar to NRC, after a journalist was manhandled on Sunday in a South Delhi locality, an attack he said perpetrated by “infiltrators”.

"If NRC (National Register of Citizens) is implemented in Delhi then Manoj Tiwari will be the first one who will have to leave Delhi," Kejriwal told media persons this morning, when asked for a reply on Tiwari's demand.

However, the Delhi Chief Minister was hit out at by BJP leader Kapil Mishra, who pronounced his remarks “embarrassing”.

Mishra posted a video on his twitter handle, in which he said: “Chief Minister Kejriwal’s comment on NRC is absurd. His statement that people of UP and Bihar will have to leave Delhi if NRC were implemented is absurd and shameful.”

“NRC means National Register of Citizens and not Delhi Register of Citizens that will require Indian nationals from other parts of the country to leave Delhi,” he stated.

“People who love anarchy can’t support NRC,” he said and accused Kejriwal of protecting Bangladeshis and the Rohingyas to build a vote bank.

Tiwari’s demand for NRC in Delhi is viewed as significant as the Assembly elections in Delhi are due next year. Last month after the declaration of NRC list in Assam, Tiwari had said the situation in Delhi was “dangerous” and a similar process to identify “outsiders” was necessary.