The Election Commission of India on Wednesday imposed a 24-hour ban on BJP MP Parvesh Verma for calling Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal a “terrorist.”
The ban on Verma, second in the past one week, came into force at 6pm on Wednesday.
This means that he will not be able to campaign for the February 8 Delhi Assembly polls any further. Campaigning ends at 5pm on Thursday.
The Aam Aadmi Party had on Monday approached the Election Commission against BJP leaders, including Uttar Pradesh chief minster Yogi Adityanath and Verma, over their alleged objectionable remarks against Kejriwal and demanded an FIR against them.
Talking to reporters after meeting with Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora, AAP leader Sanjay Singh said the BJP does not have any issue to raise in the Delhi Assembly election and alleged that the party is trying to defer the poll scheduled for February 8.
'We met CEC and raised the issue of statements of several BJP leaders. BJP MP Parvesh Verma called the chief minister a terrorist. We also demanded action against UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath for his Pakistan remark against the Delhi CM,' he claimed.
Earlier in the day today, Kejriwal, referring to himself as the “son of Delhi,” demanded proof of him being a terrorist.
He said, “Residents of Delhi want to know how the son of Delhi is a terrorist. (Union minister) Prakash Javadekar ji says he has proof. If you have proof, provide the evidence to the people of Delhi.”
Union minister Prakash Javadekar had on Monday defended Verma’s “terrorist” barb at Kejriwal, the justification coming after the capital’s ruling AAP had channelled its campaign machinery to focus on countering the charge.
“Kejriwal puts on an innocent face and asks whether he is a terrorist…. There is enough proof that you are a terrorist,” Javadekar told a news conference.
“You had yourself said that you are an anarchist and there is not much difference between an anarchist and a terrorist.”
Javadekar said Kejriwal had “stayed the night in Moga at Khalistan Commando Force terrorist commander Gurinder Singh’s home” a week ahead of the Punjab elections in 2017.
Kejriwal had stayed at a house owned by Karanjit Kaur, the wife of the England-based Singh who was acquitted of involvement in an explosion in 1997.
The AAP had then clarified that Punjab Police had vetted the residence in advance and the police had already leased the premises where their own officers were staying.
Following Verma’s remark on January 25, the AAP held silent “peace marches” in all the 70 Assembly seats in Delhi, while Kejriwal asked voters at every rally whether they considered him a “terrorist” or their “son”.
