On 2nd September (Wednesday), former bureaucrat Ashish Joshi was questioned for around 9 hours by the Delhi Police Special Cell over his contentious remarks pertaining to the Election Commission of India (ECI). Police officers dropped him off at his RK Puram residence after releasing him in the evening.
According to police sources, Joshi was detained from Chanakyapuri for examination in relation to a case that was filed under section 192 of the of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which addresses provocation with the aim or knowledge that it is likely to provoke a disturbance. It was registered by the Counter Intelligence (CI) unit.
Just got back home.
— Ashish Joshi (@bismil_prasad) September 2, 2026
Delhi Special Cell dropped me home .
Details later .
An insider revealed, “Joshi had recently posted on social media about the ECI. After registering an FIR (First Information Report), we decided to question him to verify his claims. At the office, he was questioned and confronted with the messages he had posted on social media. After verifying the claims, we decided to let him go,” reported The Indian Express.
Who is Ashish Joshi
Joshi, an alumnus of Saint Stephen’s College of Delhi University, is a 1992-batch officer of the Indian Post and Telecommunication Accounts and Finance Service (IP&TAFS). He worked at the Department of Telecommunications as a Controller of Communications. He retired on 31st March of this year.
However, Joshi’s track record has been notably controversial. He faced a suspension lasting more than two years in August 2019 after he advocated for action against the then-rebel Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Kapil Mishra, who demanded action against the “internal enemies” of India.
Joshi had launched a complaint with the Delhi Police Commissioner, who was suspended for abusing his official position as he used his official letterhead for the communication. “The matter that indecent messages were doing the rounds on social media was brought to my notice by my college junior Barkha Dutt, who tagged me on Twitter. As a public servant, I was just doing my job of informing the authorities concerned,” he brazenly defended himself, dismissing any wrongdoing at the time.
Interestingly, Joshi had a close relationship with AAP prior to their fallout in 2015, which stemmed from disagreements with former party leader and journalist Ashish Khetan, leading to his resignation as member secretary of the Delhi Dialogue Commission (DDC). Afterwards, he lodged a formal complaint with Delhi’s Anti-Corruption Branch against Rajendra Kumar, the former principal secretary of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
“He is a part of the cosy club of Lutyens Delhi, which refuses to realise that Stephen’s does not run the country,” a senior AAP leader had attacked Joshi, blaming him for ruining Kumar’s career.
A vocal member of lslamo-leftist ecosystem
A divisive video came to light in March 2018, following the Rashtriya Janata Dal’s (RJD) success in the Araria Lok Sabha by-election. The party’s supporters were heard chanting “Bharat tere tukde honge” (India will be broken into pieces) and “Pakistan zindabad” after the victory. Joshi also voiced his objection about the troubling situation.
However, his criticism was not directed at the slogans or those who were raising them, but with Zee News for airing the video. He even submitted a complaint against the news channel for “running communal headlines repeatedly.”
Joshi also does not hold any faith in the democracy of the nation and further supports smear tactics by propaganda platforms such as “The Wire” targeting the Election Commission. He wants the populace to mobilise in a “mass movement against ECI to seek full accountability and transparency before the electoral and political system is totally destroyed.” Of course, the provocation tactic is neither concerned with the voters nor democracy. It is meant to create unrest because his preferred government is not in power.
I fully agree with Political Economist Parkala Prabhakar @parakala who says time has come for a mass movement against ECI to seek full accountability and transparency before the electoral and political system is totally destroyed.https://t.co/KamPpZ1CYy
— Ashish Joshi (@bismil_prasad) September 2, 2026
Joshi, in line with others of his ilk, is also actively engaged in the dissemination of misinformation and the creation of facts from thin air. He also supported the discredited 2.6 GDP assertions of former Finance Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg as a confirmation of his analysis, celebrating the alleged economic downturn under the Modi government.
I stand vindicated.
— Ashish Joshi (@bismil_prasad) September 2, 2026
SC Garg, Former Finance & EA Secretary (2017-2019), says on NDTV that GDP is 2.6% and not 7.8%.
Who would know better than @Subhashgarg1960?#DataFudging https://t.co/ERKEtUFbWH pic.twitter.com/7EspD3013v
Joshi even seeks a re-election of the Delhi assembly due to the inconvenient outcome of the Special Intensive Revisions of the electoral roll. He intentionally failed to mention that this is not the final list and that affected persons can present their claims along with supporting documents until 30th September.
Additionally, the constitutional and statutory validity of this exercise has been affirmed by the Supreme Court. Moreover, all personnel from Booth Level Officers (BLOs) to Booth Level Agents (BLAs) of political parties, are integral to the SIR process. However, the essential initiative to purify the voter list of any fraud or fabrication appears to stoke a peculiar hostility within the opposition and its ecosystem.
Delhi Assembly elections must be re-held, or @ECISVEEP must immediately publish post-SIR voter lists at every booth for public verification. Booth-level officials must be present on-site to address wrongful exclusions and rectify rolls on the spot.
— Ashish Joshi (@bismil_prasad) September 1, 2026
Democracy fails if even a… https://t.co/9vPfKutWc6
It is not surprising that Joshi harbours a profound hatred for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and its leader Mohan Bhagwat. He even went so far as to suggest that the concept of “love jihad” is a conspiracy theory associated with them, thereby trivialising the suffering and pain experienced by countless Hindu victims. He subsequently accuses the organisation of “constant othering,” despite Bhagwat’s regular emphasis on the shared roots of all Indians, regardless of their religious beliefs.
Joshi, blurring the distinction between disdain towards the nation and the government, argued that the RSS remained silent when China entered Arunachal Pradesh. He gleefully ridiculed the ability of Indian forces to secure the borders and endorsed the unfounded propaganda without considering its potential ramifications for the country.
Must listen. @YashRRJ exposes the tartuffery of @RSSorg with hammer and tongs .@DrMohanBhagwat abroad talks “unity in diversity” and says a Hindu who wants no Muslims isn’t a Hindu.
— Ashish Joshi (@bismil_prasad) August 31, 2026
Back home, the same ecosystem runs on “4 vs 24 children”, love jihad, and constant othering.… pic.twitter.com/swgCv9euFn
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) campaign against the “Dangi Naxal ecosystem” drew a similar response from Joshi. Its vow to expose lies and propaganda was deliberately cast in a violent light, with him accusing that the party wanted to attack Indians. He even tagged DGPs (Director General of Polices) of different states and union territories, urging them to act immediately as they were “duty-bound under the Constitution and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).”
The intent appeared clear: to sow panic by recasting the saffron party’s mission against fabricated narratives as a clarion call for violence, even though the video explicitly spoke of only dismantling fabrications.
To all DGPs of States and Union Territories,
— Ashish Joshi (@bismil_prasad) August 30, 2026
I write to you as a former civil servant and a citizen of India.
Please see the tagged video of a ruling party handle. It is openly calling for violence against citizens of India.
You are duty-bound under the Constitution and the… https://t.co/NCfU8omgUe
Conclusion
Ashish Joshi, a prominent voice in the liberal ecosystem, has repeatedly used criticism of the Modi government as a vehicle to push anti-India narratives and unsubstantiated conspiracy theories. From questioning the Election Commission’s integrity to echoing pro-China narratives, his record reflects a consistent pattern of rhetoric often detached from evidence.
His remarks follow the same playbook, make sweeping allegations without producing credible proof, while routinely amplifying notorious entities such as The Wire. He channels his enmity for the government into attacks on the country and its institutions.
