BJP delaying Ravidas temple: AAP

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of using “delaying tactics” in allotting land to rebuild the Ravidas temple in South Delhi’s Tughlaqabad, which was demolished last month by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on the Supreme Court’s orders.

“If the Centre or DDA, which comes under the Centre, does not take action in the matter in the next three days, then AAP will hold a protest at Jantar Mantar on September 21,” said AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh.

Singh said the demolition of the 500-year-old temple had hurt the sentiments of people from the Dalit community. “No response has been received from either the prime minister or housing and urban affairs minister Hardeep Singh Puri to letters written by us,” he said.

Singh said the saffron party acted like Mughal emperor Babar. “The BJP claims Babar demolished the Ram temple. In that case, the BJP is doing the same thing by demolishing Ravidas temple,” he said.

Neelkanth Bakshi, officer-in-charge Delhi BJP, said, “The BJP-ruled Centre has ensured to work for people of all sections and caste. Matters such as these, which are subjudice, will be appropriately dealt with at the right time.”

The temple in South Delhi’s Tughlaqabad was demolished on August 10 by DDA on the Supreme Court’s direction, sparking protests.

As the demolition snowballed into a major controversy, AAP sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention in ensuring the land is given back to the community to rebuild the place of worship. Puri had earlier said the Centre was determined to find a solution and possibly identify an alternative site to “relocate” the temple.

First Published: Sep 17, 2019 23:06 IST