New Delhi: A Delhi BJP delegation on Friday met the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of the national capital and demanded action against an AAP spokesperson for allegedly calling its party candidate Rajesh Bhatia for the Rajinder Nagar Assembly bypoll a ‘Pakistani’.
The BJP delegation was led by Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri and included state party General Secretary Harsh Malhotra, BJP MLA and Rajinder Nagar election in-charge Ajay Mahawar, among others.
The BJP accused AAP spokesperson Durgesh Pathak of insulting Bhatia and also violating the model code of conduct for the by-poll.
During a television debate, Pathak said that Bhatia’s ancestors must have come to India from Pakistan so he was a Pakistani. This statement by the AAP spokesperson was made in response to the BJP calling him an outsider in Rajinder Nagar.
The AAP leader unsuccessfully contested the 2020 Delhi Assembly polls from Karawal Nagar constituency.
The Delhi Leader of Opposition said, “Lakhs of Hindus and Sikhs came to India during partition of the country in 1947 and thousands of such families are settled in Rajinder Nagar Assembly area, too, and have contributed immensely to Delhi’s development. By calling Rajesh Bhatia, who comes from one such family a Pakistani, the AAP spokesperson has not only insulted the entire community but has also violated the election model code of conduct.”
BJP leaders Harsh Malhotra and Ajay Mahawar have said that AAP is losing political ground in Rajinder Nagar and is therefore trying to vitiate the election campaign.
“Residents of the area, especially the thousands of 1947 partition-affected families settled here will not forgive AAP. The results of the June 23 bypoll will show that Rajinder Nagar has rejected the AAP,” they added.
The BJP delegation claimed that the Delhi CEO has assured them of launching a probe into the matter.
–IANS