Amid voting in Delhi, BJP's Parvesh Verma urges people to vote for 'patriotic' party, queue up at polling booths and shout 'Jai Shri Ram'

BJP leader Parvesh Verma urged Delhi voters to queue up at polling booths in large numbers and vote for the ’nationalist’ party. The BJP MP also said that voters “of a particular community” in localities like Shaheen Bagh, Jamia and Seelampur are repaying their debt to the Aam Aadmi Party. In the video released on Twitter, Verma asked voters to give a befitting reply to the Aam Aadmi Party, which had been “serving biryani” and “giving money” to anti-CAA protesters in Shaheen Bagh.  

अगर शाहीन बाग के लोग लंबी-लंबी क़तारों में चिल्ला चिल्ला कर बोल सकते हैं AAP पार्टी को वोट डालो तो दिल्ली वालों आप भी घरों से निकलो और देशभक्त पार्टी को वोट डालो।@ANI @PTI_News pic.twitter.com/QYkIWj4E1s

— Parvesh Sahib Singh (@p_sahibsingh) February 8, 2020

Delhi is voting for 70 Assembly constituencies on Saturday after a bitter campaign. During the campaign, Verma was banned twice from campaigning in Delhi for violating the Model Code of Conduct. Citing media channels, in the video, he says that if the people of Shaheen Bagh can queue up in large numbers and shout asking people to vote for the Aam Aadmi Party, then the nationalist people of Delhi should also get out of their homes and vote for the patriotic party. **Click here to follow LIVE updates on the Delhi Assembly Elections 2020**   “In areas like Shaheen Bagh, Seelampur, Jamia Millia, people are forming long queues. People of one society, one community are shouting and saying that they will vote for Aam Aadmi Party. And why wouldn’t they? For the last one month, the Aam Aadmi Party has been feeding them biryani and paying them money. Today, they are paying their debt to the Aam Aadmi Party,” he alleged. Verma also urged people to not only vote for the “nationalist party”, but also form long queues and shout “Jai Shri Ram”. “I want to tell the residents of Delhi, the country has a lot of debt on you, the people who sacrificed their lives for the country, their debt is on you. You are nationalists. You are patriots. We won’t allow Delhi to break. So, you also get out of your homes, form long queues, and show your cards shouting. The people of Delhi, the patriots of Delhi, form long queues, show your ID cards and say: ‘we will vote for the patriotic party, and say loudly: Jai Shri Ram’,” he said in the video. Click here for detailed coverage of Assembly Elections 2019 Shaheen Bagh has emerged as the epicentre of women-led anti-CAA protests in the National Capital and has inspired several such protests across cities in India. The protest site and the protesters have also become a major poll plank for the Bharatiya Janata Party, which has often alleged that the ruling Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress are supporting the protesters. According to reports, Okhla constituency where Shaheen Bagh falls, has been seeing long queues on Saturday, but voting has been very slow. Earlier on Friday, the Election Commission has declared polling booths around Shaheen Bagh as “sensitive” due to the anti-CAA protests. In view of the ongoing anti-CAA protests in Shaheen Bagh, the Delhi CEO Office has put all five polling stations in the area under the “critical” category, and confidence-building measures are continuously being undertaken to reassure voters, officials said. Delhi Chief Electoral Officer Ranbir Singh reiterated that the area is under “tight vigil” and “there is no obstruction” in areas where poll activities will be conducted, so voters will face no problems.