From Inciting Violence To Sharing Fake Videos, The Delhi Elections Have Hit A New Low
A chilly winter taxi ride recently turned out rather interesting. The driver whose children go to a government school couldn¡¯t stop complaining about how the parent teacher meeting was now a big challenge for the schools. ¡°You see simply because the Parent Teacher Meetings (PTMs) have become such a pull for parents, BJP is doing all it can to stop them. There are several like me who can vouch the good the schools are doing for our children. Those opposing the PTMs are scared of the harm that the good work that has been done, can bring them,¡± he quipped.
How much of what he said is correct or not is the subject of another debate but what is beyond doubt, apparent is the new low, the upcoming Delhi elections have hit. Of course it is a taken that political parties will target each other and a bit of mudslinging is the new order but the recent lows have hit rock bottom.
From talking rape to inciting public to abuse, the allegations and ¡®fears¡¯ are making the Delhi elections a hot bed for a never before political drama.
So what exactly is going on?
While Delhi elections have always been extremely important for political parties but these ones are crucial for the fact that it is right now a them versus us situation. While BJP is trying to prove its hold over the country, hoping to bag Delhi¡¯s plum trophy, AAP (Aam Admi Party) is banking on showcasing the work they have done over the years. The CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) backdrop is then are just adding that deadly punch to the already hot election broth.
Sadly the stooping isn¡¯t stopping anytime soon, or so it seems at least.
While Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi¡¯s CM Arvind Kejriwal have time and again taken digs at each other, with elections drawing closer, this time, several others have joined the fray.
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Delhi¡¯s Shaheen Bagh which has been seeing women of the area protesting at a sit in agitation against the CAA and got country wide attention, is not surpringly, more often than not, a reference point.
It began with Home Minister Amit Shah at a gathering of BJP¡¯s social media volunteers at an event ¡®Jeet Ki Goonj at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, asking people on election day to press the lotus symbol so hard that the ¡°current¡± would ensure that protestors at Shaheen Bagh would get up and leave by the evening of February 8 (the election evening).
BCCL
The same day, Arvind Kejriwal accusing the BJP of ¡°dirty politics¡± over Shaheen Bagh said they are deliberately not opening the road which is causing to inconvenience to people. ¡°Take it in writing, the road will not open till February 8th but will open on 9th,¡± suggesting that BJP is deliberately not opening the road to reap political benefits.
I invite Amit Shah ji to come visit any Delhi govt school with me. I will cancel all my appointments for him. Politics on education is a positive change, but dirty politics is not welcome. pic.twitter.com/WC3N5oiWyD
¡ª Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) January 25, 2020
A day later, BJP's West Delhi MP Parvesh Sahib Singh, said if the anti NRC and CAA protest at Shaheen Bagh continue, Delhi will see a ¡°Kashmir-like situation.¡± And the protestors might ¡°enter homes and rape sisters and daughters.¡±
The comment came after he had said at an event, ¡°if our government is formed, just give me one month after February. I will remove all mosques built on government land in my constituency.¡±
In a rally in Rithala on January 27th, which Home Minister was to address but was finally addressed by BJP leader and Minister of Finance (state) Anurag Thakur, he clapped and chanted ¡°Desh ke gaddaron ko¡± encouraging the crowd to fill in and they did with ¡°goli maro salon ko¡± (The traitors of the country should be shot).
Anurag Thakur | BCCL
Congress leader P Chidambaram reacted to the speech when he tweeted ¡°As every day passes, the rhetoric of the BJP reminds one of the Germany of 1930s.¡±
Today, Election Commission (EC) ordered the removal of Singh and Thakur from BJP¡¯s list of star campaigners for Delhi assembly elections. Referring to Thakur¡¯s remarks, EC noted that Thakur¡¯s statements have the ¡°potential of disturbing communal harmony and aggravating the existing difference between social and religious communities.¡±
Meanwhile, twitter saw a host of exchanges between AAP and BJP about the much spoken about Delhi schools.
?????? ???????? ?? ???? ???? ?????? ????? ?????? ??????? ????? ????? ?? ??? ?????? ??? ?? ?????? ????? ?? ???? ????? ???-??? ????? ??? ?? ?? ????? ???? ???? ??? ??...
¡ª Amit Shah (@AmitShah) January 28, 2020
???? ?????? ?? ???? ¡®?????? ?? ???????¡¯ ?? ????? ?? ??? ??? ???
?? ???? ?????? ?? ???? ?? ???? ???? ????... pic.twitter.com/gjzgaix2rA
On Monday (Jan 27th), some BJP MPs including Gautam Gambhir, Hans Raj Hans, Manoj Tiwari, Meenakshi Lekhi and Ramesh Bidhuri had visited some schools and later posted some videos on Twitter.
Take for example, Gambhir tweeting, ¡°So ¡®Mr Education¡¯ is saying that this school became a wreck in three months? For five years it was a model school and right before elections it was shut down!¡±
So ¡°Mr. Education¡± is saying that this school became a wreck in 3 months? For 5 yrs it was a model school & right before elections it was shut down!
¡ª Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) January 28, 2020
This is the same man who opened 100 liquor shops in 5 years but only 1 new school as per RTI
Edu Min or a Liquor Mafia? https://t.co/3mJmYfLPqA pic.twitter.com/UZ5KnlbeqS
Following the series of tweets by the other MPs, CM Kejriwal and Deputy CM held a press conference.
Sisodia said Parvesh Singh Sahib had tweeted a video of a school in Matiala where the old building had been shown and the new one purposely left out. He also spoke about West Delhi MP Hans Raj Hans having ¡°threatened the estate manager at night and opened the school to make a fake video.¡±
Sadly the exchanges aren¡¯t limited to tweets and speeches.
?? @AmitShah ??! ???? ????? ???? ?????? ?? ??? ????? ?? ?????? ????? ??? ?? ???? ????? ?? ???? ??? ???? ?? ?? ?? - ???? ??? ?? ?? ???? ?? ?? ?? ???????? ???? ?? ??? ?? ????? ?? ?? ????? ???? ????? ?? ????? ??? ?????? ?? ???? ??? ??. 1/2 https://t.co/stU1vhTVav pic.twitter.com/bWSBAbmU0Q
¡ª Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) January 28, 2020
The latest to be caught in the election fever is an auto driver who has been slapped with a challan. His fault? His auto said, ¡°I support Kejriwal¡± and ¡°Sirf Kejriwal¡±. Kejriwal reacted by appealing to ¡°BJP to stop taking revenge on the poor.¡±
With the elections less than 10 days away, the words are only set to get nastier. EC is sure set to be busy!
The author is a New Delhi-based freelancer.
