Delhi CEO takes cognisance of Anurag Thakur's 'shoot traitors' speech ahead of 8 Feb polls, seeks report from district election officer

Delhi: The Delhi Chief Election Officer has sought a report from the North West district’s election officer in connection with a rally by BJP leader and Union minister Anurag Thakur during which he egged on the crowd to raise an incendiary slogan that “traitors should be shot”, after he lashed out at anti-CAA protestors, officials said. The incident has triggered a row, drawing sharp reaction form the Congress which demanded that the Election Commission (EC) take action against Thakur. “We have taken cognisance of the incident and have sought a report from the district election officer. However, we have not received any complaint so far,” a senior official in the Delhi CEO Office said. At the rally, Thakur, the minister of state for finance, shouted “desh ke gaddaron ko” to which the crowd responded “goli maro sa*** ko” (shoot down the traitors). Thakur was addressing the meeting in support of BJP candidate from Rithala, Manish Chaudhary. He raised the pitch of nationalism as he linked opposition parties with anti-CAA protests in Shaheen Bagh and with alleged anti-India slogans, and then asked the crowd to raise the controversial slogan.