BJP slashed SC panel strength from 35 to 21, claims MC LoP

The Leader of Opposition in the Delhi MC, Ankush Narang, on Tuesday claimed that the number of councillors in the SC committee of the House had been slashed from 35 members to 21.

The move indicated that the BJP government in the House was trying to hijack the Chairperson’s post and suppress Dalit voices, he added.

Addressing a press conference, Narang said, “A few days ago, elections to various MC committees were due, but Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh abruptly issued a notice suspending the process. He did this to bring a proposal in the House scheduled for July 10 — without informing anyone about the changes he intended to make. Now, the proposed changes are out in the open, and they are blatantly anti-Dalit.”

He alleged that the number of Scheduled Caste (SC) Committee members had been reduced through this amendment. “Fourteen members have been axed from the SC Committee. During the MC elections, 42 seats were reserved for SC candidates, out of which AAP won 36 — which clearly indicated that the Dalit community rejected the BJP.”

Responding to the allegations, Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh regarded AAP as “the biggest anti-Dalit party”, claiming that, during its two and a half years in power, the party prevented the formation of an ad hoc committee on SC welfare and reservation implementation. He added that the party was trying to block the formation of the committee, and was indulging in “baseless political accusations” to serve that purpose. “AAP neither respects the law nor the Constitution, and continuously opposes actions carried out according to the rules and regulations of the House,” he said.