New Delhi, April 26 (UNI) The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday of preventing Delhi from having a Dalit mayor, alleging that the anti-Dalit BJP conspired to cancel the election of MCD mayor through the Lieutenant Governor.
These allegations came a day after Lieutenant Governor V. K. Saxena postponed the elections to the posts of mayor and deputy mayor of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi that were scheduled to take place today.
Addressing a press conference, senior AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, along with AAP’s Lok Sabha candidate from East Delhi, Shri Kuldeep Kumar, alleged, "BJP does not want Delhi to get a Dalit mayor. According to the Constitution drafted by Babasaheb Ambedkar, a person from the Dalit community is mandated to serve as the mayor of Delhi for one term. But these BJP people with anti-Dalit mentalities are still living with the same disgusting mentality. Today, the BJP has also seized that constitutional right in Delhi. They are now saying that a Dalit's son will not sit on the mayor's chair.”
“If this happens, then that chair will become unholy. For this, the BJP has prepared their pawn, the Lieutenant Governor. The BJP's LG has said that we cannot appoint the presiding officer without consulting the Chief Minister,” Singh said.
“A year ago, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal recommended the name of the seniormost AAP councillor, Mukesh Goel, as the presiding officer for the MCD mayoral poll. The LG blatantly dismissed his suggestion and nominated BJP councillor Satya Sharma as the presiding officer,” Singh asserted.
“This proves my allegations that the BJP is anti-Dalit and an opponent of Baba Saheb’s Constitution, and they have made their LG lie. This is not a small lie; this is as false as calling day as night,” Singh added.
“Even today, the BJP people are trying to finish the reservation for Dalits and backward classes in the entire country. Various prominent BJP leaders, including Mohan Bhagwat and Manmohan Vaidya, have repeatedly said that reservations should end. The BJP has always voiced opposition to reservation. Their mentality is that Dalits have no rights in this country,” he alleged.
Showing a letter, Singh said, “The BJP must respond to the letter when the BJP councillor Satya Sharma was made the Presiding Officer without the advice of the Chief Minister. On what basis are the municipal elections being cancelled in Delhi? Just so that a Dalit's son could not sit on the chair? Is there so much hatred in your hearts? Singh questioned.
They want to take away the rights of Dalits, tribals, underprivileged, and exploited communities and finish the reservation for these communities. The BJP wants to end elections in the country. They have already disintegrated and toppled 6-7 state governments, he added.
AAP candidate from East Delhi, Kumar, reiterated that the BJP’s mentality of hatred against the Dalits, tribals, underprivileged, and exploited, and their efforts to finish reservation, are now in front of the entire country.
They have so much hatred against these communities that even President Droupadi Murmu was not invited to the inauguration of the new Parliament building. This prejudice of the BJP against these communities will be exposed by the AAP, and they will have to answer, he asserted.
“By stopping the mayoral election in Delhi today, it is clear that the BJP does not want the son of the Dalit community to become the mayor, which shows that the BJP is working with an anti-Dalit and anti-backward mentality. The BJP opposes reservation and wants to end it,” Kumar said.
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