The Election Commission on Friday asked Twitter to remove a tweet by a BJP candidate in the forthcoming assembly elections which it perceives as communal.
In a series of tweets over the last two days, Kapil Mishra, a former AAP legislator had lashed out at the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. He had referred to Shaheen Bagh, one of the protests sites as an entry point for Pakistan. “Pakistan is entering through Shaheen Bagh and mini-Pakistans are being created in Delhi…Shaheen Bagh, Chand Bagh, Inderlok. The law is not followed here and Pakistani rioters are occupying the roads,” he had tweeted in Hindi.
In another post, he had compared the February 8 Delhi election to India Vs Pakistan contest.
Earlier, the Election Commission had issued notice to Mishra after talking into account media reports and social media posts about his tweets. The EC said that his comments were “deemed to be a violation” of provisions of the Model Code of Conduct and Representation of People’s Act. Mishra, who asked for three days time to reply said he had done nothing wrong. “I spoke the truth. I stand by my statement,” said the BJP candidate.
Mishra is contesting the election as the BJP candidate from Model Town. A former AAP minister, he fell out with Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.
In a separate development, BJP leaders Vijay Goel and Sambit Patra on Thursday described Shaheen Bagh as “Shame Bagh” where agitators are “defaming the country for earning Rs. 500 each”. They also accused the AAP and Congress of playing politics to garner votes.
— India Legal Bureau