Pakistan enters Delhi Assembly elections 2020 discourse

During Gujarat's election campaign, the Prime Minister had claimed that Congress and Pakistan had conspired to push a particular leader as Chief Minister of the state

'Pakistan' has made its entry into the Delhi Assembly election discourse on Thursday with BJP candidate Kapil Mishra targeting anti-CAA protesters, claiming "small, small Pakistans" are being created in the national capital.

Mishra, a rebel AAP MLA who will be contesting from Model Town seat, posted a series of tweets where he first said, ""India vs Pakistan 8th February Delhi. There will a contest on Delhi Roads between India and Pakistan on February 8."

When a Twitter user questioned whether equating an electoral contest as a battle between India and Pakistan is an insult to voters and electoral process in the country, Mishra referred to the ongoing anti-CAA protests in Shaheen Bagh, which is led predominantly by women in the locality.

"Pakistan has made its entry in Shaheen Bagh. Small, small Pakistans are being created in Delhi. The country's law is not accepted in Shaheen Bagh, Chand Bagh and Inderlok. Pakistani rioters have occupied the Delhi streets," Mishra, who had earlier accused Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of corruption, tweeted.

Mishra, who came out of AAP after being removed as Minister, also said that the Twitter user may have compulsions to keep her silence when people holding tricolour are setting fire to buses and those who forcefully block roads, pelt stones at the police and throw petrol bombs. He also sought to suggest that the rioters were given Rs 5 lakh each to the rioters for creating trouble.

Second-rung BJP leaders are drumming up the rhetoric over continuing protests in South-East Delhi's Shaheen Bagh, which had resulted in traffic problems in the area. The Shaheen Bagh protests have "inspired" similar protests in other cities too.

From Prime Minister Narendra Modi to BJP spokespersons, several leaders have sought to corner the Opposition on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) saying they were playing into Pakistan's hands. During Jharkhand elections late last year, Modi had dared Congress to announce that they would be willing to give citizenship to Pakistanis.