'NRC very important, AAP's strategy revolves around lies': Javadekar

Attacking Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for his remarks on the NRC, senior BJP leader Prakash Javadekar has said the people understand that the exercise is crucial as no country can allow illegal infiltrators to stay, and asserted that his party will repeat the success of Lok Sabha polls in Delhi Assembly election. Last month, Kejriwal had said that if the National Register of Citizens (NRC) is implemented in Delhi, it is the BJP city unit president Manoj Tiwari who will have to leave the national capital first. This drew a sharp reaction from the BJP.

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Javadekar slams Kejriwal

"Only Kejriwal has confusion over NRC. This is the understanding of the Delhi chief minister. But it is not what people understand, they know that no country allows illegal infiltrators to stay. Therefore, the NRC is very much important," Javadekar said in an interaction with PTI journalists. 

He said Home Minister Amit Shah has already made it clear that the Citizenship Amendment Bill will be passed. The Bill seeks to amend a 1955 law to grant citizenship to Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, and Christians from the Muslim-majority nations of Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan if they have lived in India for six years. It had been passed by the previous Lok Sabha but was not tabled in Rajya Sabha. The bill lapsed after the term of the previous Lok Sabha ended in May but was not introduced in the Budget Session in July.

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Javadekar alleged the Aam Aadmi Party's strategy revolves around lies and taking credit for others' work, and said that the BJP will get a "huge mandate" in Delhi assembly elections, due early next year. After its resounding victory in May 2014 in all seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, the BJP could not repeat it in the assembly polls and got just three seats out of 70.

"This time it (BJP repeating its 2019 Lok Sabha polls performance in the Delhi state assembly elections) will happen," the Union Minister said replying to a query.

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In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP won all seven seats garnering nearly 56% of the total votes polled, while the AAP was relegated to the third position. We are winning Delhi, and that too with a huge margin, Javadekar added. Asked whether the BJP will name its chief ministerial candidate in Delhi, he said that the party has not declared any face yet and that it is a matter related to poll strategy. He did not elaborate on whether the party plans to name anyone.

"It's state-specific. We have announced in Maharashtra and Haryana. So, somewhere we announce, somewhere we do not announce. It is not because they (Devendra Fadnavis and M L Khattar) are incumbent, but because it is strategy. Strategy should not be confused with policy," he said.

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Javadekar on Delhi polls

Responding to a question on whether there will be any change in the Delhi unit leadership before the polls, Javadekar said that the focus of the party is to win the assembly election and it is preparing for it. We have organisational polls and the timetable is declared. Currently, we are preparing for (Assembly) elections. Where is this question of replacing (Tiwari)? there is a system of (organizational) election in our party. "The new president comes through election. We do not remove anyone. The responsibility keeps changing from one to the other. Does that mean removal, he said.

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