Delhi Cong urges EC to ban Anurag Thakur, Parvesh Verma from campaigning

Delhi Congress approached the Election Commission on Tuesday, urging it to ban BJP leaders Anurag Thakur and Parvesh 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.

The Election Commission has promised us that it won't let it happen, Maken said, adding they have called a meeting of all senior poll and police officials on January 31.

The EC has sought a report from the Chief Electoral Officer on Thakur and Verma's remarks and because they are "star campaigners", the Delhi CEO can issue them a notice. Only the Election Commission of India can do so, he said.

"The EC has accepted that they have made provocative statements and we have demanded that they be banned from campaigning," Maken added.

During an election rally in Delhi, Union minister Thakur egged on the crowd to raise an incendiary slogan "traitors should be shot at" after he lashed out at anti-CAA protestors.

Verma, the West Delhi MP, said what happened in Kashmir with Kashmiri Pandits could happen in Delhi, warning that lakhs of anti-CAA protesters in Shaheen Bagh could enter homes to kill and rape women.