Suicide by IPS officer: AAP anti-Dalit, guards perpetrators, says Sampla

Punjab BJP leaders on Monday launched a scathing attack against state’s ruling AAP, accusing it of protecting those who commit atrocities against the Dalits.

The allegation comes as ruling AAP and the Congress have upped the ante against the Haryana’s BJP government over the suicide by senior IPS officer Y Puran Kumar, allegedly due to caste-based discrimination.

Former Union minister and BJP leader Vijay Sampla told reporters here that AAP’s Khadoor Sahib MLA Manjinder Singh Lalpura, convicted and sentenced to four years for assaulting a Dalit woman, had neither been expelled from the party nor disqualified from the Assembly.

Sampla, a Dalit leader and also a former chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, alleged that the MLA continued to “enjoy privileges in jail”.

Sampla aslo reminded the ruling outfit that before the state Assembly polls, AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal had promised to appoint a Dalit deputy chief minister, a promise yet to be fulfilled. Sampla said of the AAP’s 13 Rajya Sabha MPs, none was from the community. He alleged that since AAP came to power, Dalit icon BR Ambedkar’ statues had been vandalised multiple times in Amritsar and Phillaur.

Ruling party’s true character exposed, says Kainth

Bathinda: Meanwhile, Paramjit Singh Kainth, vice-president of the BJP SC Morcha, said AAP had failed to give due respect to the Dalits, who constitutes nearly 32 per cent of Punjab’s population. “Its true character towards Dalits has been exposed,” he claimed. Kainth said Punjab had seven Rajya Sabha seats, and the bypoll for one of these seats was scheduled for October 24, but the ruling party did not pick any Dalit leader.