Election Commission slaps 24-hr ban on Parvesh Verma

New Delhi: BJP MP Parvesh Verma has been banned by the Election Commission from campaigning for Delhi Assembly elections for 24 hours from 6 pm on Wednesday. The ban means that the West Delhi MP will not campaign for party candidates for Delhi Assembly polls as campaigning will end at 6 pm on Thursday.

Mr Verma was banned for allegedly terming chief minister Arvind Kejriwal as “terrorist”. Earlier on January 30, the EC had banned Union minister Anurag Thakur and Mr Verma from campaigning for Delhi Assembly elections for 72 and 96 hours respectively for making inflammatory speeches.

The EC orders barred Mr Verma from holding any public meetings, public processions, public rallies, road shows and interviews, public utterances in media (electronic, print, social media) in connection with ongoing Delhi Assembly polls for 24 hours starting from 6 pm on Wednesday (February 5).

The EC order said that the present offence is a repeat of violation of model code of conduct by Mr Verma. “The Commission is of the considered view that Mr Verma made vitriolic aspersions against Mr Kejriwal which violates the provisions of the model code of conduct,” said the order. In his defence to the show cause notice issued on January 30, Mr Verma denied the allegation leveled against him and said that the video did not reflect the correct picture.

Reacting to the ban, Mr Verma told this newspaper that this ban is injustice to him. “The EC ban is wrong and injustice to me. Aam Aadmi Party and Mr Kejriwal are afraid of me and trying hard to stop me from campaigning,” Mr Verma added.

Earlier the EC banned Mr Verma for his comment that those who have mounted over a month-long sit-in protest at Shaheen Bagh against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) “will enter your houses, rape your sisters and daughters”.