'Punjab AAP plays politics in name of Dalits': BJP

Chandigarh, Oct 13 (IANS) Former National Commission for Scheduled Castes Chairperson Vijay Sampla on Monday said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab “plays politics in the name of Dalits but in reality it protects those who commit atrocities against them and attacks their rights”.

BJP leader Sampla told the media here that AAP legislator Manjinder Singh Lalpura, who was convicted and sentenced to four years in a case of assaulting a Dalit woman, has neither been expelled from the party nor disqualified from the Assembly.

“Instead, he continues to receive special privileges in jail.” During the Assembly session in March 2024, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann allegedly used casteist language against a Dalit MLA, insulting the entire community, he said.

In April 2024, Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar made casteist remarks against communities during a rally in Patti.

Later, both Bhullar and the Chief Minister had to publicly apologise. Former union minister Sampla said before the assembly elections, AAP national Convener Arvind Kejriwal had promised to appoint a Dalit Deputy Chief Minister, but the promise was forgotten after coming to power.

He said the Punjab and Haryana High Court reprimanded the state government for withholding its share of post-matric scholarship funds, which disrupted the education of Dalit students.

In the Majitha spurious liquor tragedy of May 2025, he said 16 of the 30 victims were Mazhabi Sikhs. “Their families have neither received compensation nor jobs. In another Ludhiana case, the SC/ST Act was not invoked despite Dalit victims.”

Since AAP came to power, Sampla said, Dr B.R. Ambedkar’s statues have been vandalised multiple times in Amritsar and Phillaur.

“The government also stopped Rs 25 crore sanctioned for the Guru Ravidas Bani Study Centre, hurting the sentiments of the Ravidassia community.”

He questioned the silence of the AAP leadership on atrocities. He said in September 2023, the son of AAP leader Dinesh Dhal allegedly abducted and brutally thrashed a Dalit youth.

“Yet the police did not register a case and pressured the victim to compromise,” Sampla added.

--IANS

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