BJP’s Hari Nagar candidate in the Delhi assembly elections Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga has levelled an explosive allegation against the Aam Aadmi Party of distributing hateful posters ahead of the upcoming Delhi polls. Bagga has alleged that AAP has distributed pamphlets in Delhi urging Muslims to vote for it to defeat PM Modi.
आम आदमी पार्टी की प्रत्याशी द्वारा इन बच्चो से हरी नगर मे विवादित पोस्टर बंटवाए जा रहे है । जिसको हमारे कार्यकर्तायों ने रँगे हाथो पकड़ा । pic.twitter.com/vLKdhVVqV0
— Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga (@TajinderBagga) February 7, 2020
In a video shared by Bagga on his official Twitter handle, children are seen stating that a large chunk of controversial pamphlets was kept in the area.
“The coming 8 of February is very important. After the formation of the Narendra Modi government, the subjugation of Muslims has increased. With Ram Mandir, Article 370, Triple Talaq and Citizenship Bill, Modi made Muslims feel like a second-class citizen. This is no ordinary election but an election to unite and defeat all communal forces,” the pamphlet reads.
It may be noted that the campaigning for the Delhi elections tomorrow ended yesterday as per Election Commission rules, and no campaigning is allowed. Therefore, distribution of the pamphlets in support of AAP is a major violation of the model code of conduct for the elections.
One of the 70 assembly constituencies in Delhi, Hari Nagar, which has 40 per cent of the Sikh population, will see an electoral battle between BJP candidate Tajinder Singh Bagga and AAP’s Rajkumari Dhillon. The Congress party has fielded Surender Sethi from this constituency. Bagga has alleged that the controversial posters were distributed at the behest of AAP candidate Raj Kumari Dhillon.
Just yesterday AAP had distributed a pamphlet with newspapers in Muslim majority areas in Delhi seeking their votes for the polls of 8 February. Calling Kejriwal as the ‘Messiah’ of Muslims, the pamphlet had said, “Vote for Kejriwal for the betterment of the community. Kejriwal is the messiah of the community. A vote for Modi is like digging the grave of his community. Vote for the community.”
This is not the first time that the Aam Aadmi Party is seen cosying up to the Muslim community. In fact, the strategy to appease Muslims to seek their votes is a classic page out of AAP’s playbook. In 2017, AAP was accused of distributing a pamphlet asking Muslim residents living in the Bawana assembly constituency of Delhi to vote for Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the by-polls. The pamphlet, which showed a cabinet minister in Kejriwal government-Imran Hussain, made a communal appeal to Muslims to vote for AAP, as any division in the votes of the Muslim community could mean a result like that in Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, which were swept by the BJP.
Similarly, in 2013, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal was accused of seeking votes in the name of religion by exhorting Muslims to rally behind the Aam Aadmi Party. The Election Commission then issued a notice to Kejriwal stating that his communal appeal for votes to the Muslim community had violated the Model Code of Conduct.
