People in Delhi are starting to put their names down to run in the February elections and it looks like it’s going to be a tight race. A big issue is that some candidates have been accused of saying hateful things which makes people wonder what kind of values the city will support. For example the BJP party picked Kapil Mishra who people have said made hateful speeches before the violence in northeast Delhi in February 2020 which sadly caused 53 deaths mostly of Muslims. He put his name in on Thursday so everyone is watching him again.
The main thing people are talking about with Mishra is a speech he gave on February 23 2020. Many say that it was inflammatory and might have led to the violence that happened after it. There’s a lot of discussion about if politicians should be held responsible for using hate speech and what can happen because of it. Now the elections are seen by many as an opportunity for Delhi to decide if it will accept hurtful and divisive words from its political leaders.
How political parties have chosen their candidates especially when it comes to people who have been accused of hate speech is being watched closely. These elections aren’t just about who gets power it’s also about what kind of city people in Delhi want it to be particularly after what happened in 2020. Because Mishra is on the ballot it’s a major factor shaping what people are talking about in the election.