Following the Delhi Assembly Elections debacle, Union Home Minister, Amit Shah has spoken about the party’s defeat during the polls for the first time. Speaking at the Times Now Summit 2020, Shah has said that controversial, provocative remarks might have contributed to party’s defeat in the National Capital.
Speaking about remarks made by party leaders like West Delhi MP, Parvesh Varma and party leader, Kapil Mishra, Shah has said, “Statements like ‘goli maro’ and ‘Indo-Pak match’ should not have been made. Our party has distanced itself from such remarks. It is possible that we might have suffered partially because of those comments.”
It is relevant to mention here that Union Minister, Anurag Thakur had got people to chant the controversial ““Desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maaro s**lon ko (shoot the nation’s traitlors)” slogan at an Election rally.
The slogan had led to quite a controversy and even Kapil Mishra’s remark giving the Delhi Elections the colour of an Indo-Pak contest had led to a massive outrage.
Anurag Thakur and Parvesh Verma both were part of BJP’s star campaigners list, and both of them were banned in the midst of the Election campaign for 72 and 96 hours respectively by the Election Commission. Mishra too was banned over his remarks about the Shaheen Bagh protests.
Thakur and Verma were removed from the BJP star campaigners list too. Speaking about the Shaheen Bagh roadblock, Verma had said, “Lakhs of people gather there [Shaheen Bagh]. People of Delhi will have to think and take a decision. They will enter your houses, rape your sisters and daughters, kill them.” He had added, “There’s time today, Modi ji and Amit Shah won’t come to save you tomorrow.”
The Delhi Assembly polls had witnessed an intense debate about the CAA that was passed by the Parliament a couple of months ago. BJP had organised several rallies in its support and was also in a position to corner its opponents, including the AAP, over the anti CAA violence in the National Capital.
However, some party leaders clearly got carried away, made rather controversial remarks and put the party in a somewhat difficult position. Shah now feels that this might have hurt the party’s prospects.
It must be reiterated here that Shah himself keeps himself aloof from controversial remarks and speaks only on solid facts and ground realities.
During a February 6 rally in East Delhi’s Kondli, Shah had cut short “goli Maro” slogans that were being chanted by the crowd.
He had said, “Arre suno bhai, suno bhai… Button dabao (Press the EVM button).” He had added, “Bewakoofi band karo na bhaiyya”, exhorting the crowd to steer clear of chanting controversial slogans.
Shah’s remarks thus come as a signal for the party leaders to steer clear of controversies and to avoid indulging in unnecessary and provocative sloganeering. With West Bengal polls scheduled for next year, the BJP leaders, especially the local leaders, must make it a point to speak on core issues rather than making statements that can put them and the party in a spot of bother.
