BJP wants to communalise Delhi polls: Congress to EC

The Congress has complained to the Election Commission about the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders', including Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur, statements during the campaigning for the February 8 Delhi Assembly polls.

"The way Thakur, Pravesh Verma and Amit Shah is using the language to polarise voters, it seems the BJP wants to communalise the elections. It's unacceptable. The BJP has lost balance due to impending poll loss. We have requested the EC to take action against them," said Congress leader Ajay Maken.

The poll panel had sought a report from the Delhi Chief Election Commissioner, he added.

BJP MP Verma has kicked off a row by claiming if the BJP came to power in Delhi it would only clear the Shaheen Bagh of the anti-CAA activists within an hour, but also remove within a month all mosques in his parliamentary constituency built on government land. Verma represents West Delhi in the Lok Sabha.

Addressing a private gathering in the Vikaspuri Assembly constituency, Verma said, "Its not just any another election. It's an election to decide the unity of the nation."

"If the BJP comes to power on February 11, within an hour you will not find a single protester. Within a month, you will not spare a single mosque built on government land in my Lok Sabha constituency."

Verma's rhetoric seems to be in line with the BJP's new-found poll plank in Shaheen Bagh protest and came soon after Union Minister Thakur's "shoot the traitors" barb.

In a video that has gone viral, Thakur, sporting a grey kurta and saffron stole, is seen raising slogans, like "Desh ke gaddaro ko" and the crowd completing that with, "goli maaro ... ko" (Shoot the traitors).