BH CORRESPONDENT, New Delhi: In his first statement since the BJP’s drubbing in the Delhi polls, Home Minister Amit Shah, who led the party’s campaign, said that hate speeches by some of its leaders led to the downfall of the party in the elections.
“They should not have given such statements,” Shah said at the Times Now Summit to questions on hate statements such as the “goli maro” slogan and comparing the Delhi election to a India vs Pak match.
Shah reiterated that the BJP had distanced itself from these remarks and should not be construed as the party’s position. “There are all kinds of people in the fray,” he said.
Union minister of state Anurag Thakur, BJP’s West Delhi MP Parvesh Verma and the BJP’s Model Town candidate Kapil Mishra were banned from campaigning by the Election Commission for these inflammatory slogans and statements.
A day after a crushing defeat in the Delhi Assembly election, a newly-elected BJP MLA echoed the views of some of the party’s leaders who had described Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) boss Arvind Kejriwal as a terrorist.
While referring to protesters at Shaheen Bagh, Thakur had led party supporters to chant the “goli maro” slogan and Verma had said that the protesters will “rape and kill your daughters and sisters”. Mishra, who called the election as a contest between “India and Pakistan” had also called the anti-CAA protest at Shaheen Bagh a “mini-Pakistan”.
The BJP managed to get only eight seats in the February 8 Delhi Assembly election which was swept by the ruling Aam Aadmi Party which won 62 seats in the 70-member House.
