Delhi Assembly Passes Resolution Against NPR, NRC, Kejriwal Says His Family, Entire Cabinet Don't Have Birth Certificates

The Delhi Assembly passed a resolution on Friday against the National Population Register (NRC) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). At the one-day special session, which was held to discuss the NPR and the NRC, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal requested the Centre to withdraw them.

“Me, my wife, my entire cabinet don't have birth certificates to prove citizenship. Will we be sent to detention centres?" Kejriwal asked. The chief minister challenged Union ministers to show whether they had birth certificates issued by the government.

In the Assembly, Kejriwal asked the MLAs to raise their hands if they had birth certificates, following which only nine legislators in the 70-member House raised their hands.

“Sixty-one members of the House do not have birth certificates," he said. "Will they be sent to detention centres?”  

The session was stormy after the ruling Aam Aadmi Party MLAs moved the resolution against NRC and NPR. BJP and AAP MLAs also cornered each other on last month's communal riots in northeast Delhi which claimed at least 53 lives and injured over 200 people.

This was the first special session of the Delhi Assembly after the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP returned to power last month for the third consecutive term. The lawmakers also held discussions on the coronavirus  situation and steps being taken by the government to deal with the contagious infection.