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AAP wants election commission to ban Yogi Adityanath for ‘divisive speeches’
New Delhi
New Delhi
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday wrote to the Election Commission of India (EC) demanding a “complete ban” on Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath from campaigning in Delhi for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the run up to the February 8 assembly polls. The AAP also wanted Adityanath’s arrest for his speech at a public gathering in the city on Saturday.
Adityanath on Saturday had trained guns at Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and stated that protesters in Shaheen Bagh were being fed biriyani by the AAP government at a gathering in northwest Delhi’s Rohini neighbourhood.
The BJP, later, hit back saying that the AAP was using tactics to stop the party from fielding strong campaigners in the city.
“Aam Aadmi Party demands complete ban on Yogi Adityanath from campaigning in Delhi and appeals for his arrest in the light of communal speeches in its complaint lodged with the election commission today,” said the AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh.
He further said, “Yogi Adityanath has failed to fix pressing issues in Uttar Pradesh. But he delivers divisive speeches in Delhi. BJP leaders can’t talk about education, health, electricity and water as they have miserably failed in states ruled by them.”
Speaking at a press conference, Singh also criticised Union home minister Amit Shah. “Under the influence of home minister Amit Shah, Delhi Police is silent and indifferent towards the divisive tactics of the BJP. But the election commission can’t remain indifferent to this grave issue. It is the misuse of democratic and constitutional institutions,” he said.
Questioning the loyalty of anti-CAA protesters in Shaheen Bagh, Adityanath on Saturday had spoken in length about issues related to terrorism, national security and attack on security forces in Pulwama, among others. Adityanath is listed among the BJP’s star campaigners for the upcoming polls in Delhi.
Senior BJP leader and the party’s Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Goel said, “Kejriwal can foresee his defeat and so he is using such tactics to stop our strong campaigners. The election commission is capable of taking up such cases suo moto. The weak leadership of the AAP should focus on their own public meetings and campaigns.”
