New Delhi: Soon after Arvind Kejriwal claimed that if the National Register of Citizens (NRC) were implemented in the national capital, Manoj Tiwari would be the first one to have to leave Delhi, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP came down hard on Delhi Chief Minister calling his comment 'disgraceful'. Speaking to news agency ANI, Tiwari said that Kejriwal's comment betrays his belief that those from outside Delhi have no right to live in the union territory. "NRC is about illegal immigration about targets those who have unlawfully entered the country," he said.

"I would like to ask if he wants to say that a person who hails from Purvanchal is an illegal infiltrator,whom he wants to chase out of Delhi," Tiwari said asking Delhi CM that if he considers people migrating from other states as foreigners. "People who have migrated from other states are considered as foreigners by you (Delhi CM)? You want to chase them out from Delhi,you're one among them.If this is his intention then I think he has lost his mental stability. How does an IRS officer not know what NRC is," BJP MP asked.

Tiwari said the National Register of Citizens is about illegal immigration and targets those who have unlawfully entered the country. "If you are from Bihar, Haryana or Madhya Pradesh... do you become part of the NRC?" Tiwari said adding that Delhi CM should be ashamed of himself. He also corned Kejriwal alleging usage of parliamentary words.


Tiwari has been a strong supporter of the verification drive like the one in Assam that excluded 19 million people and had recently demanded NRC in the national capital after a journalist was assaulted in a South Delhi neighbourhood on Sunday evening in an attack he attributed to 'infiltrators'.

Earlier in the day, Kejriwal took a swipe at Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari, stating that the Bihar-born MP would be among the first required to leave the city if the NRC were to be carried out in the national capital. "If NRC is implemented in Delhi then Manoj Tiwari will be the first one who will have to leave Delhi," the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener told reporters, when asked for his reaction to Tiwari's demand.


Not just Tiwari, but Kejriwal's comment drew sharp reactions from other BJP leaders including Kapil Mishra, who published a video statement on micro-blogging site Twitter and termed Delhi CM's statement embarrassing. "Kejriwal's statement on NRC is pointless," he said in Hindi. "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 is for 'National'", Mishra added.

In the final NRC list published on August 31 for Assam, 3,11,21,004 applicants were found eligible for inclusion in the final list leaving out 19,06,657 people, including those who did not submit their claims. The NRC list is aimed at segregating Indian citizens living in Assam from those who had illegally entered the state from Bangladesh.