BJP loses most seats where its leaders made controversial remarks

PTI, Feb 12, 2020, 9:16 AM IST

New Delhi: The BJP failed to make much impact in constituencies where its leaders made controversial remarks while targeting their opponents during campaigning for the Delhi assembly polls.

Only three seats, which were among 12 constituencies where Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath addressed rallies, were bagged by the BJP. The party won 8 seats as against 62 by the AAP.

During his hectic campaign schedule which stretched over four days, he addressed rallies for BJP candidates in Patparganj, Kirari, Mehrauli, Uttam Nagar, Dwarka, Tughlakabad, Vikaspuri, Rohini, Karawal Nagar, Jahangirpuri and Badarpur.

The firebrand BJP leader kept the protesters at Shaheen Bagh in crosshair at each rally and alleged that the AAP government had been supplying them “biryani”, for which the Election Commission issued him a notice.

Barring Badarpur, Karawal Nagar and Rohini, where BJP’s Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, Mohan Singh Bisht and Vijender Gupta emerged victorious, the party candidates were humbled by opponents from the AAP.

In Janakpuri, where BJP MP from West Delhi Parvesh Verma made a controversial remark during a rally, the BJP candidate, Ashish Sood, lost to AAP’s Rajesh Rishi by 14,917 votes.

“What happened in Kashmir with Kashmiri Pandits could happen in Delhi also. Lakhs of people gather at Shaheen Bagh, they could enter houses rape and kill your sisters and daughters. The people need to decide now,” Verma had said.

The Election Commission had barred Verma from campaigning for four days over the remarks.

Shaheen Bagh, a key anti-CAA protest site in south Delhi, had taken a centre stage in the BJP’s poll campaign.

Verma’s uncle and the party’s candidate from Mundka, Azad Singh, lost to AAP’s Dharampal Lakra by 19,158 votes.

In Rithala, where Union minister Anurag Thakur made the infamous “desh ke gaddaron ko” remark, AAP’s Mohinder Goyal trounced BJP’s Manish Chaudhary by 13,817 votes.

The BJP candidate from Model Town, Kapil Mishra, who was barred from campaigning for 48 hours for his controversial tweet likening the elections to an “India versus Pakistan match”, lost to AAP’s Akhilesh Pati Tripathi.