New Delhi: The high-pitched election campaign for the Delhi assembly polls, that saw several communal statements, concluded on Thursday with marathon public meetings and roadshows by all the major parties.
The campaign saw the senior central leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) camping in Delhi while chief minister Arvind Kejriwal led the charge for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Rahul Gandhi held two rallies for the Congress, whose presence was much more muted compared to rivals.
However, with slogans like “goli maaro saalo ko” raised at rallies, the campaign had its lows as well. News18.com looked at the instances of violations of Model Code of Conduct and how the Election Commission handled these cases.
Kapil Mishra, BJP
Kapil Mishra, who switched from the AAP to the BJP after his expulsion from the Aam Aadmi Party in 2017 and disqualification as an MLA under the anti-defection law in 2019, is contesting the Delhi polls from Model Town constituency on the saffron party's ticket.
On January 22 and 23, Mishra, who is known for his communally charged views on social media, posted on Twitter: “8 February ko Dilli ki sadko par Hindustan our Pakistan ka muqabla hoga. AAP our Congress ne Shaheen Bagh jaise mini Pakistan khade kiye hain, jawab mein 8 February ko Hindustan khada hoga. Jab Jab deshdrohi bharat mein Pakistan khada karenge, tab tab deshbhakton ka Hindustan khada hoga. (It will be an India vs Pakistan battle on the streets of Delhi on February 8. AAP and Congress have created mini Pakistans like Shaheen Bagh. India will stand up against them on February 8.”
He later deleted the tweet. Mishra was issued a show-cause notice on January 23 by the Returning Officer (RO), to which he submitted his reply the next day.
On finding his submissions unsatisfactory, the RO got an FIR filed against Kapil Mishra on January 24 “for violation of the law and provisions of the Model Code of Conduct”. The Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi referred the matter to EC for further orders. The EC Condemned Mishra’s statements and barred him from campaigning for 48 hours.
Anurag Thakur, Minister of State for Finance
Union minister of state for finance and a BJP MP from Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh, Anurag Thakur was barred from campaigning for 72 hours by the EC on January 30 for making “objectionable statements and chanting” while addressing a public meeting in Rithala assembly constituency on January 27, 2020. He was also removed from the star campaigners’ list of the BJP.
During the rally, a video of which went viral on social media, Thakur was seen chanting “Desh ke gaddaron ko” to which the crowd responded with “goli maaro saalon ko” (Shoot the traitors of the country). Thakur, in his reply to the show cause notice said that he chanted only “Desh ke gaddaron ko” and it was the crowd that responded to his slogans.
The commission, however, concluded that his statements were “undesirable and objectionable” and had the “tone and tenor to aggravate existing differences or create mutual hatred between different religious communities, and thus violated the provisions of MCC and Representation of the People Act, 1951.” The EC condemned Thakur’s behaviour and barred him from holding any public meetings for 72 hours.
The commission also clarified that its order dated January 29 to remove Thakur from the star campaigners list along with West Delhi BJP MP Parvesh Sahib Singh, would continue to be in force.
Parvesh Sahib Singh Varma, West Delhi BJP MP
West Delhi BJP MP and the son of former Delhi chief minister Sahib Singh Varma, Parvesh was served a show-cause notice by the EC on January 29 after a video of him started doing the rounds wherein he was seen making an objectionable speech in a public meeting in Vikaspuri constituency.
“Agar Dilli mean meri sarkar bann gayi toh 11 tareekh ke baad kewal ek mahine ka samay mujhe de dena. Meri Lok Sabha main jitney masjidein sarkari zameen par bani hain, ek maheene ke andar ek masjid nahi chhodunga. Saari masjidein hata dunga (If my government comes to power in Delhi on February 11. Then I’ll get rid of every single mosque in my parliamentary constituency that is built on government land),” he had said on January 28.
In an interview to ANI the same day he said: “Thousands of people gather in Shaheen Bagh, we’ll have to decide…they’ll enter your homes and rape and murder your mothers and sisters. There’s still time, tomorrow Modi ji and Amit Shah ji won’t be able to save you.”
Denying any violation of the MCC, Parvesh Varma in his response to the EC said that “his statements regarding the protestors in Shaheen Bagh were in response to a question in an interview and was intended to highlight certain incidents that disturbed the peace in several states and were misrepresented in the media. His statements regarding the removal of mosques were in the context of removing illegal encroachment on government land.”
The commission found Parvesh Varma in violation of the same provisions as Anurag Thakur and barred him, under Article 324 of the Constitution, from holding any public meeting, processions, rallies, roadshows, etc. for a period of 96 hours starting from January 30.
Varma was again held accountable for making “vitriolic aspersions” against chief minister Arvind Kejriwal after he called the latter a “terrorist/Naxalite” on January 30 and was barred from campaigning for another 24 hours on February 5.
Other instances
No leader or candidate from any party other than the BJP was at the receiving end of any action by the EC during the entire election campaign.
The only other instance of EC finding someone violating the MCC was when it condemned Arvind Kejriwal for a statement made on January 13 during a celebratory gathering of advocates at Tis Hazari Court premises.
Kejriwal had promised to make Mohalla Clinics, if provided space, inside the court premises. In his defence, Kejriwal said that the statement was not made in an official capacity and had nothing to do with the ongoing election campaign.
In another instance, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra was served a show-cause notice on Wednesday for his statements having “potential of disturbing communal harmony,” which were made during a debate on News18 India. He has been given time till Thursday evening to respond.
AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh and UP CM Yogi Adityanath were also issued notices on February 6 for violating clause (2) of part-1 of the MCC which states: “Criticism of other parties or their workers based on unverified allegations or distortion shall be avoided…”
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