The Election Commission orders BJP to remove Anurag Thakur and Parvesh Verma from star campaigners’ list.

#NewDelhi: The Election Commission of India on Wednesday ordered the BJP to drop Union minister Anurag Thakur and West Delhi MP Parvesh Verma from its list of star campaigners for Delhi assembly  elections after the two politicians were accused of using communally and  provocative language.

 

Parvesh Verma had alleged that protesters gathered at Shaheen Bagh would enter homes, rape and kill and claimed that this can be prevented if the BJP is elected in the Delhi assembly polls on  February 8.

 

Anurag Thakur, on the other hand, was sent notice by the Election commission  for his hate election speech where he was heard saying to a gathering, “desh ke gaddaron ko…” leading to the people to reply in unison “…goli maro s****n ko”. Anurag Thakur was campaigning for the party’s Rithala assembly candidate Manish Chaudhary.

 

The comments were seen in sequence with a string of controversial comments and, rivals allege, communally divisive rhetoric that the BJP has used over the past week in the Delhi assembly election campaign.

 

Analysts have said the BJP’s turn to divisive rhetoric is an attempt to consolidate Hindus in an Delhi election where it was widely perceived to start with a disadvantage because of the AAP’s contention of providing better governance.

 

Model Town BJP candidate Kapil Mishra, too, have whipped up hateful speeches. Mishra was pulled up by the Election Commission for inciteful comments such as “Delhi mein chhote chhote Pakistan bane”, “Shaheen Bagh mein Pak ki entry”, etc. The election commission gagged him for 48 hours and an FIR was filed against him.

 

The BJP also does not have a CM face against the incumbent, Delhi CM  Arvind Kejriwal, and is fighting the election in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Bureau Report