BJP, Congress target AAP over resolution on ’84 riots

NEWDELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress targeted the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday and said the resolution passed in the Delhi Assembly on Friday included the demand to strip former PM Rajiv Gandhi off the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in India.

Senior AAP leaders, including deputy chief minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia, on Saturday said that the resolution on the 1984 anti-sikh riots that was passed in the House on Friday did not have any reference to Gandhi or the Bharat Ratna.

The AAP leaders said the reference to Gandhi was part of the proposed amendment that had been pushed by a few party legislators “without following Assembly procedure” and could therefore not be passed in the House.

The Congress staged a protest outside AAP’S office at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, demand- ing removal of any reference to Gandhi in the resolution from the Assembly record and an apology from party chief Arvind Kejriwal.

“Kejriwal should apologise to the country and remove from the record of the Delhi Assembly the resolution passed.

If need be, a special session of the Assembly should be called for the purpose,” said Ajay Maken, chief of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee. Maken said the AAP, which came into existence only six years ago, “neither knows about the development work carried out by Rajiv Gandhi, nor about his sacrifice”.

Criticising the AAP’S leadership for its “multiple flip-flops,” BJP’S Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta alleged CM Arvind Kejriwal had “joined hands” with the Congress. “The resolution has turned out to be an ‘all-aap’ matter. They all are fighting within the party. Some are in favour of the resolution and some are against it. AAP’S top leadership reacted against its own legis- lator’s demand of stripping Gandhi of the Bharat Ratna after being rebuked by the Congress high command,” he said.

Gupta added that the AAP had been eyeing an alliance with the Congress in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, which is why its leaders are now busy clarifying the position on Rajiv Gandhi.

Gupta, MLA from Rohini, said BJP legislators in the House wanted to pass a resolution which would dissociate all House members from the Congress party as “the riots took place under the Congress’ political patronage”.

“But, not only was this submission not included, it was not even acknowledged. Also, when a debate was going on in the Assembly on conviction of a big Congress leader after 34 years, for his involvement in Sikhs massacre, Delhi CM Kejriwal and Deputy CM Manish Sisodia were missing from the House. Clearly, some under the table talks are underway between the two parties,” he said.