AAP protests cancellation of mayoral poll, several detained

Anshita Mehra

New Delhi, April 27

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders and volunteers took to the streets of Delhi to protest the cancellation of the mayoral elections, originally scheduled for April 26. They accused the BJP of “conspiring” with Lt Governor VK Saxena to “cancel” the mayoral elections fearing the win of the AAP candidate in the polls. The AAP alleged that the BJP wanted to stop a person from the Dalit community from becoming the Mayor of Delhi.

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.

Birla asserted, “This time a Dalit son was to become the Mayor of Delhi, but the BJP’s L-G cancelled the election overnight. The BJP wants to strip Dalits of their voting rights and reservations by altering Babasaheb’s Constitution.”

Echoing her sentiments, Dutt condemned the cancellation of the election as a manifestation of anti-Dalit sentiment. “Just one day prior to the election, at the behest of the BJP, the L-G cancelled the mayoral elections and brought his anti-Dalit mentality to the fore. This is against the Constitution,” he added.

Khichi said, “The country’s people will answer this with their votes,” expressing confidence in the INDIA bloc’s victory in all seven Lok Sabha seats of Delhi.

Meanwhile, taking a firm stance against the arrest of Kejriwal, the AAP staged a demonstration near a footover bridge in the East Delhi area as part of the party’s ‘Jail Ka Jawab Vote Se’ campaign.

Under the leadership of AAP candidate from East Delhi, Kuldeep Kumar, volunteers took to the streets of Laxmi Nagar on Saturday, donning AAP caps and banners, to raise awareness about what they allege to be the BJP’s conspiracy behind Kejriwal’s incarceration. He urged the people of Delhi to stand united against the BJP’s alleged attempt to destabilise the Delhi government.