Delhi Elections 2020: EC asks Twitter to remove BJP candidate Kapil Mishra’s ‘India vs Pakistan’ comment

The Election Commission has asked Twitter to remove a controversial post by BJP’s Kapil Mishra, a candidate for the upcoming Delhi assembly polls. In the post Mishra had compared the upcoming elections to an India versus Pakistan contest.

The Election Commission’s action came after the office of the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer wrote to the EC seeking the removal of the tweet, EC officials said.

“We took cognisance of the tweet, and wrote to EC last night seeking its removal. The EC then asked Twitter to remove his tweet. The tweet is a violation of the Model Code of Conduct and the the Representation of the People Act, so we have taken action,” Delhi CEO Ranbir Singh said.

“We have also issued a showcause notice to Kapil Mishra,” he added.

Mishra for his part responded by saying that his remarks should not be considered “election-related”.

“I have only given my general opinion on the issue and not by way of any election rally or speech. These impugned remarks should not be considered as election related statements. They thus do not fall under the ambit of the Model Code of Conduct or Representation of People Act, 1951,” he said in his response to the show cause notice.

He also said that his comments had been “taken out of context and misrepresented intentionally to paint a one sided picture to stoke differences”.

On Thursday, Mishra, a former minister in the Arvind Kejriwal cabinet, had tweeted that the February 8 election will be a contest between India and Pakistan in Delhi.

In a series of tweets in Hindi, Mishra had also lashed out at anti-CAA protesters in Shaheen Bagh and other places in the city.

“India vs Pakistan 8th February Delhi. There will a contest on Delhi Roads between India and Pakistan on February 8.”

“Pakistan has already entered Shaheen Bagh and small pockets of Pakistan are being created in Delhi,” he had written in another tweet.

In another post, Mishra claimed that the BJP will win the polls and Kejriwal will resign from his post when votes are counted.

The former AAP leader was removed as a minister by Kejriwal in 2017. Last year, he was also disqualified as AAP MLA under the anti-defection law. Now a member of the BJP, he will be facing AAP MLA Akhileshpati Tripathi in the elections.

Polling will be held on February 8 and the results declared on February 11.

(With inputs from agencies)