Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate in Delhi elections, Kapil Mishra, has refused to take back his tweets on Delhi Assembly elections, where he called the electoral contest as a match between India and Pakistan. The Returning Officer (RO) had issued a notice to him on the tweets.

“I received a notice from Election Commission last night, I’ll give my reply today. I don’t think I said anything wrong. Speaking truth is not a crime in this country. I spoke the truth. I stand by my statement,” Mishra said, according to news agency ANI.

“Roads are encroached upon in Shaheen Bagh, people aren’t being allowed to go to schools, offices, hospitals, inciting slogans are being raised. The shamelessness with which Manish Sisodia said he stands with Shaheen Bagh means that this is a political movement,” ANI further quoted Mishra as saying.

He is the BJP candidate from Model Town in north Delhi.

In its notice to Mishra, the RO had said “Clause 1(1) of the Model Code of Conduct stipulates that no party or candidate shall include in any activity which may aggravate existing differences or create mutual hatred or cause tension between different castes and communities, religion or linguistic.”

It further said that Mishra’s act violates the provisions of the Model Code of Conduct and the same is punishable under law; he has been asked to explain why action should not be initiated against him.

Mishra had said in the tweet that the assembly elections on February 8 will be like an India-Pakistan match.

He had further explained his tweets and claimed that the protest against citizenship law in Shaheen Bagh is Pakistan sponsored. “Pakistan has entered Shaheen Bagh. Mini Pakistans are being created in Delhi. The Indian law is not followed in areas like Shaheen Bagh, Chand Bagh and Inderlok. Pakistani hooligans have captured the streets of Delhi,” Mishra said in his tweet posted in Hindi on Thursday.

“AAP and Congress have created these mini-Pakistans, like the one in Shaheen Bagh. They will get the answer from India on February 8. Whenever seditious people create a Pakistan in India, they will come face-to-face with patriotic Indians,” Mishra furth said on Twitter.

Mishra was removed as minister by Delhi Chief Minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal in 2017. Last year, he was also disqualified as AAP lawmaker under the anti-defection law.

He joined the BJP in August last year.