AAP demonstrates outside BJP headquarters in Delhi over postponement of mayor’s election; several detained

PTI

New Delhi, April 27 

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday staged a demonstration at the BJP headquarters against the postponement of the election for the mayor of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).

According to an official statement, over a dozen AAP MLAs and volunteers, including MLAs Rakhi Birla and Ajay Dutt, along with mayoral candidate Mahesh Khichi were detained by the police during the protest.

AAP accused BJP of “conspiring” with Lt Governor VK Saxena to “cancel” the mayoral elections, fearing the win of the AAP candidate in the polls.

AAP alleged that BJP wanted to stop a person from the Dalit community from becoming the mayor of Delhi.

A large number of people from the Dalit community from across Delhi participated in the demonstration and accused BJP of being anti-Dalit. The protesters also raised “Jai Bhim” and anti-Modi slogans.

“This time a Dalit son was to become the mayor of Delhi, but BJP’s L-G cancelled the election overnight. BJP wants to take away the voting rights and reservation of Dalits by changing Baba Saheb’s Constitution.

“This time, the Dalit community of the entire country will oust BJP from power and its candidates will lose their security deposits on all Delhi Lok Sabha seats,” Birla said.

Ajay Dutt alleged that despite the Election Commission giving its permission for the mayoral elections, the L-G “cancelled” the polls just one day before at the behest of BJP.

Khichi slammed BJP and said it was “openly murdering democracy and the Constitution.”

“The people of the country will answer this with their votes and on May 25, the INDIA alliance is going to win all seven Lok Sabha seats of Delhi,” he said.

BJP on Friday called AAP “anti-Dalit” and “anti-woman”. It alleged that the mayoral polls were postponed due to the AAP’s procedural lapse as it failed to get required approvals well in advance.

BJP claimed that over 3,000 files related to the administration work in Delhi are pending with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for nearly a year.

Mayoral elections were stalled by MCD on Thursday after the L-G said he did not “deem it appropriate” to appoint presiding officer to hold the polls without inputs from Kejriwal, who is currently lodged in a jail in connection with a money laundering case. 

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