NEW DELHI: Ahead of the Delhi Assembly polls, the NRC debate has heated up with the Delhi unit of the BJP taking to the streets against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for his comment against Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari.
BJP workers took out a protest outside Kejriwal's residence with BJP flags fluttering and anti-Kejriwal slogans reverberating. A massive police contingent was deployed for security even as BJP workers tried to breach the barricades.
The protest was against a comment by Kejriwal where he said that if the NRC is implemented in Delhi, Tiwari will have to leave the city.
"If NRC was implemented in Delhi, Tiwari will have to leave first," the Chief Minister had said.
In terms of optics and messaging, it only enthuses the BJP cadres while contributing very little to a nuanced issue like the NRC.
Meanwhile, a complaint was also filed against Kejriwal and AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj for their comments. The complaint was lodged by BJP leaders Neelkant Bakshi and Kapil Mishra for "spreading false rumours on NRC, lying on guidelines set by Supreme Court, and comparing citizens of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, and Rajasthan with infiltrators".
Tiwari has been demanding Nation Register of Citizenship in the national capital like in Assam, to root out illegal immigrants. Ahead of crucial Delhi polls slated for early next year, when the BJP hopes to make a comeback, both sides have been trying hard to milk the current controversy over the NRC.