Breaking news: EC bans BJP union minister Anurag Thakur for 3 days from Delhi Assembly election campaign, gags party MP Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma for 4 days

Taking a strong stand on politicians making inflammatory and controversial statements during the Delhi Assembly election 2020 campaign, the Election Commission of India on Thursday (January 30, 2020) banned and gagged two Bharatiya Janata Party MPs including a union minister.

While Anurag Thakur, the BJP Lok Sabha MP from Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh and Union Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, has been banned from campaigning in Delhi election for three days, the party's MP from West Delhi Lok Sabha constituency Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma has been gagged for four days for making controversial remarks.

In a statement issued by the poll commission body, it condemned the impugned statements made by the minister and under Article 324 of the Constitution of India barred Thakur from holding any public meetings, public processions, public rallies, roadshows and interviews, public utterances in media (electronic, print, social media).

The EC also dismissed Thakur's request for an opportunity of a personal hearing in the matter.

The Election Commission had on Wednesday ordered the BJP to remove Anurag Thakur and Parvesh Sahib Singh Varma from the party's list of star campaigners for Delhi poll with immediate effect. Anurag Thakur had been issued a show-cause notice by the EC on Tuesday (January 28, 2020) for his ‘Desh Ke Gaddaro..’ chant during an election rally in Delhi and he had time till 12 pm on January 30, 2020, to submit his reply to the poll panel.

Parvesh Verma, too, was issued a notice by the EC on Wednesday (January 29, 2020) for his statement that people protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh would be cleared in an hour if the BJP comes to power in the national capital. He also laced his comments with a sensational remark, "They will enter your houses, rape your sisters and daughters".

Verma further said, "It is an election to decide the unity of a nation. If the BJP comes to power on February 11, you will not find a single protester within an hour. And within a month, we will not spare a single mosque built on government land."

In a separate statement, the poll commission noted that Verma's comments had the potential to aggravate existing differences and create mutual hatred between religious communities and was in violation of the Model Code of Conduct.

His request for an opportunity of a personal hearing in the matter was dismissed by the EC.

Delhi Assembly election is on February 8, 2020, while the counting of votes and results will come on February 11.