The Delhi Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has sought the reply of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and other Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders over their accusations against BJP North West Delhi candidate Hans Raj Hans of converting to Islam in 2014 and claiming that he cannot contest the election as the seat is reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) category.
Mr. Kejriwal, along with Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam and AAP North West Delhi candidate Gugan Singh have to send their replies to the Delhi CEO by 5 p.m. on Saturday. A report will be prepared and forwarded to the Election Commission, according to officials from the Delhi CEO.
Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta and Mr. Hans, on Friday, filed a complaint with the Delhi CEO against Mr. Kejriwal and AAP leaders following which the poll body sought replies from Mr. Kejriwal, Mr. Gautam and Mr. Singh.
“Kejriwal is a master of making fake news and it is an irony that media believes him and makes his false claims headlines. I am a renowned artist and I’m proud of it. I am proud of the religion and caste. I am a Valmiki...he is spreading lies to malign my image and he has lost his credibility because of lying on a daily basis,” Mr. Hans said.
Reservation row
“It was widely reported in media that Hans Raj Hans converted to Islam. It is a clear law that after conversion to Islam, a person cannot take the benefits of caste based reservation. Islam does not acknowledge any caste system, so Hans Raj Hans cannot contest from a seat which is reserved for SC community. This is not just a personal manipulation but depriving SC community members from their constitutional rights,” AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said.
In a tweet on Thursday, the AAP convenor had claimed that Mr. Hans would finally be declared ineligible to contest the polls, and urged the voters of North West Delhi Parliamentary constituency not to waste their votes on him.