Controversial Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kapil Mishra, known for his communal and incendiary speeches on Hindutva ideology, was inducted as one of the eight vice presidents of its Delhi unit on Saturday, reported The Indian Express.
Mishra, the founder of “Hindu Ecosystem”, joined the BJP four years ago after a dramatic rebellion from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Attributing it to his “public connect” and “oratory skills”, the party’s state leadership viewed the former Delhi cabinet minister’s appointment to the post as a “very significant” organisational development in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha and the 2025 Assembly elections, especially in terms of expanding its base in the capital.
Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva, who appointed Mishra, said his name was on the list of the new office bearers of the party announced earlier this week but it could not be declared due to some reason.
Disqualified from the Assembly after his rebellion and joining the saffron party in August 2019, Mishra unsuccessfully contested the 2020 Assembly polls from Model Town on a BJP ticket.
Mishra’s name had also surfaced in connection with the northeast Delhi riots which killed over 53 people and injured hundreds.
In 2020 during the Delhi riots, Mishra issued an “ultimatum” to the Delhi police to clear the roads in Delhi, failing which he said he would not listen to the police.
“Three days’ ultimatum for Delhi Police – clear the roads in Jaffrabad and Chand Bagh. After this, don’t make us understand. We won’t listen to you. Three days,” Mishra had tweeted in Hindi, along with a video of him speaking.
He also courted controversy when at a pro-Citizenship Amendment Act march, he shouted the inflammatory slogan — “desh ke gaddaron ko”. The video had gone viral on social media. Although BJP distanced itself from his speech, several party leaders, including BJP leader Anurag Thakur, were later seen on camera mouthing the same slogan.
Following the riots, he unequivocally refused to express regret for his speech, adding he would do what he did again if a similar situation arose in future.
Earlier this month, BJP announced election in-charges for four poll-bound states: Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh. Telangana and Madhya Pradesh. Om Prakash Mathur was appointed as Chhattisgarh election-in-charge of BJP and Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya as co-incharge. Union Environment Minister, Bhupendra Yadav was appointed as Madhya Pradesh election in-charge, and Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw as co-incharge of the state.
Moreover, BJP MP Prakash Javadekar has been appointed as Telangana election-incharge and Sunil Bansal as co-incharge.