New Delhi, Jan 20 The Congress on Monday hit out at Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for not including the priests of Valmiki and Ravidas temples in the party's honorarium scheme. The AAP announced the Pujari-Granthi Samman Yojana in December and under the scheme, the party promised to give Rs 18,000 to temple priests and granthis from gurdwaras if voted to power.
Congress MP and party General Secretary Jairam Ramesh in a lengthy post on X criticised Kejriwal over the non-inclusion of Valmiki and Ravidas temples' priests, saying the move exposed the AAP and the party convenor's anti-Dalit mindset.
"Arvind Kejriwal recently announced pay salaries to priests and granthis but he did not make any such announcement regarding Buddha Vihar and Valmiki and Ravidas temples. This once again exposes the anti-Dalit thinking of Aam Aadmi Party and Arvind Kejriwal. Their anti-Dalit mentality is not hidden from anyone. Many examples of this have come out earlier also," Jairam Ramesh wrote.
Further criticising the AAP, the senior Congress leader mentioned: "Among the more than 10 Rajya Sabha MPs of AAP, not even one is from SC/ST or OBC category. Arvind Kejriwal, while being the Chief Minister, had humiliated and removed Dalit leader Rajendra Gautam from his cabinet. AAP is weakening the reservation system in Delhi by promoting the practice of contracting."
Ramesh said that in the last 10 years, the share of SC, ST, OBC in the consultants hired in various departments has been negligible.
His party has also been quite vocal on the issue of caste census, but according to Ramesh, "Arvind Kejriwal maintains silence on the issue of caste census".
"Today, when Congress leader and former MP Udit Raj was protesting against the injustice being done to Dalits by the Aam Aadmi Party, he was arrested. But the Dalit community is now understanding their superficial politics very well and is going to teach them a lesson for the betrayal done to them in this election," he wrote on X.
The elections for the 70-member Delhi Assembly will be held on February 5.
The AAP is eyeing a third term even as it faces a significant challenge from a resurgent BJP as well as Congress.
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