A Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Telangana has stoked a row by claiming that Rohingyas and illegal Bangladeshi immigrants should be shot dead to keep India safe. BJP Telangana MLA Raja Singh said: "If these Rohingyas and Bangladeshi illegal immigrants do not leave India respectfully, then they should be shot and eliminated. Then only our country will be safe."

His statement comes at a time when the BJP-led Central government and the opposition are at loggerheads over the Rohingya issue and the National Register of Citizens released by the Assam government.

While Home Minister Rajnath Singh slammed the Opposition for politicising a sensitive issue, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah accused them of attempting to shield Bangladeshi infiltrators.

Shah also hit out at the Congress claiming that an initiative similar to NRC was started by former PM Rajiv Gandhi but the government then did not have the courage to implement it. "Under NRC, illegal immigrants are identified and a separate register of citizens should be made. Rajiv Gandhi signed Assam accord in 1985, which was similar to NRC. Previous governments did not have the courage to implement it, but we had the courage so we went ahead with the same," Shah said.