Bharatiya Janata Party leader Manoj Tiwari on Saturday demanded that the National Register of Citizens be replicated in Delhi to identify “illegal immigrants”, reported ANI. Tiwari’s comments came hours after the final NRC in Assam was published. Over 19 lakh people have been excluded in the final list.

“The situation in Delhi is becoming so dangerous that it is necessary to have NRC,” said Tiwari, who is also the saffron party’s chief in Delhi. “Illegal immigrants who have settled here are the most dangerous... we will implement NRC when the time comes.” Tiwari’s comments assume significance given that Delhi Assembly elections are due next year.

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However, the Congress’ women wing was quick to point out the irony in Tiwari’s statement. “Manoj Tiwari ji, Born in Kaimur, Bihar, Studied in Varanasi, UP, Worked in Mumbai, Maharashtra, Contested in Gorakhpur, UP, Contested again in Delhi is talking about throwing immigrants away from Delhi. Irony wants a change of name!,” it said.

This is not the first time that Tiwari has made such a demand. In May, the BJP MP from Northeast Delhi had said that NRC should be implemented in the national Capital if people do not want to live under the fear of attack from illegal Rohingya immigrants.

Tiwari’s demand is in line with the BJP’s stand for NRC. Party president Amit Shah had referred to undocumented immigrants as “termites” while campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections. However, Assam BJP minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the government had lost hope in “the present form” of the NRC. He said that the final list excluded names of many Indian citizens who had migrated from Bangladesh as refugees before 1971, which is the cut-off year to prove citizenship. The minister also said that the Supreme Court should allow re-verification of the names on the list.

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Also read:

How Assam’s National Register of Citizens counted people – from 2015 to 2019

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