BJP protests CM’S remark on Tiwari, files police plaint
NEW DELHI: More than 100 members of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Purvanchal Morcha on Thursday staged a demonstration outside Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence in Civil Lines, demanding an apology for his remark on the party’s Delhi unit chief Manoj Tiwari in the context of the possibility of an Assam-like National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the national capital.
Tiwari said he has written to the police to register FIR against Kejriwal and AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj for the NRC remarks which, he alleged, are “divisive in nature”.
Kejriwal had on Wednesday said if NRC is implemented, Tiwari will be the first person to leave the city. Responding to his comment, Tiwari had said this was an insult to all Purvanchalis residing in the city and that he should apologise for that.
Tiwari, a popular singer and actor from Bihar who identifies himself as a Purvanchali leader, has been demanding implementation of the NRC in Delhi to identify and evict “illegal immigrants” since the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls and intensified the demand as Delhi gears up for the assembly elections, likely to be held in early 2020.
On Thursday, a group among the protesters dismantled a barricade and forcefully tried to head towards the chief minister’s residence, following which the police was forced to swing into action. Later, all protesters were briefly detained at Civil Lines Police Station, the police said.
President of Delhi’s BJP Purvanchal Morcha Manish Singh said Kejriwal, by his comment on Tiwari, humiliated not only Purvanchalis but people from different states who live in the city and he should apologise to all of them. He said, “If Kejriwal thinks that Tiwari being a Bihari is liable to be evicted under NRC then he must also be ready for eviction since he belongs to Haryana.”
The BJP alleged this was a deliberate conspiracy to obstruct the directions of the Supreme Court and the Centre to identify Bangladeshis and Rohingyas.
AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj said that with elections approaching, the BJP has grown nervous since there is no anti-incumbency against the AAP government. “BJP has no agenda for Delhi elections. It is desperate to create divisive issues. They should compare Delhi with Bjpruled states in terms of electricity, water supply, education, mohalla clinics , dengue prevention and pollution control,” Bharadwaj said.
“Manoj Tiwari and the BJP should clarify their stand on the humiliation and violence being faced the people from UP and Bihar at the hands of the Shiv SENA-BJP combine in Maharashtra. Manoj Tiwari should clarify what action was taken against MP Ramesh Bidhuri and Chandan Chaudhary of party’s purvanchal wing. Manoj Tiwari should clarify how poor migrants from Bihar, UP and Uttarakhand will provide a proof older than 1971 for claiming citizenship.”