BJP MPs Anurag Thakur, Parvesh Verma to receive EC showcause notice over 'provocative' remarks
The Election Commission of India (EC) will send showcause notices to BJP MPs Anurag Thakur and Parvesh Verma for their "provocative" remarks at two separate BJP election rallies in New Delhi, after receiving reports from the Delhi CEO Office on Tuesday.
Addressing a poll rally in Rithala on Monday, Thakur repeatedly chanted "Desh ke gaddaron ko" and had people responding with "goli maaro saalon ko".
Speaking to The Indian Express later, Thakur said he merely asked people what should be done with traitors of the country. "I just wanted people to say what is to be done with traitors of the country. It could have evoked a response like 'vote them out' or 'throw them out'. But it was the people who reacted so," he said.
Verma, on the other hand, targeted guns at the anti-CAA protesters at Shaheen Bagh, alleging that Delhi will face a "Kashmir-like situation" where the protesters "can enter homes and rape our sisters and daughters".
"People of Delhi know that the incident that had happened in Kashmir, the daughters and sisters of Kashmiri Pandits were raped. Similar incidents continued to happen in Uttar Pradesh, Hyderabad, Kerala. Today, a similar situation has arisen at a place in Delhi (Shaheen Bagh). Lakhs of people gather there. People of Delhi will have to think and make a decision. They can enter your houses, rape your sisters and daughters and kill them. There's time today, Modiji and Amit Shah won't come to save you tomorrow… People are safe until Narendra Modi is the prime Minister. If someone else takes charge, nobody will feel safe here," Verma said.
On Monday, Verma had said that no one will be found at the protest site in Shaheen Bagh if BJP is voted to power in Delhi.
Delhi Congress approached the Election Commission, urging it to ban Thakur and Verma for making "provocative statements to incite communal violence" ahead of polls in the national capital.
"BJP's star campaigners Parvesh Verma and Anurag Thakur have used objectionable language. Top BJP leaders, including Home Minister Amit Shah, are going around the lanes and bylanes of Delhi, making provocative statements to polarise the atmosphere and incite communal violence. The BJP is doing so out of frustration," senior Congress leader Ajay Maken said.
Earlier, BJP's Model Town candidate Kapil Mishra was banned from campaigning for 48 hours by the EC over a tweet in which he had called the February 8 polls a contest between India and Pakistan.
(Inputs and image from The Indian Express)
