Delhi cabinet minister resigns over Buddhist mass conversion event row
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Rajendra Pal Gautam was forced to resign as Delhi's Social Welfare Minister on Sunday following protests by the BJP which kicked up a storm over his presence at an event in Delhi where 10,000 people converted to Buddhism on Friday. The people gathered at the event took BR Ambedkar's 22 vows including not praying to Hindu deities.
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AAP chief and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, who is campaigning in poll-bound Gujarat, is said to have been browbeaten by BJP protests to sack Gautam in an attempt to salvage Hindu votes as the BJP branded Gautam and the event as anti-Hindu. The political feud between BJP and the AAP has been broiling since the arrest of Delhi cabinet minister Satyendar Jain.
Gautam invokes Valmiki, Kanshiram after resigning
Freed from shackles, says Gautam
After resigning, Gautam tweeted saying that he had been freed from many shackles and was reborn. He vowed to fight against social injustice more vigorously. Earlier, a video of the event called Deeksha Samaroh went viral where allegedly Hindu gods were denounced. The organizers defended the event calling it anti-caste. The video spread like wildfire, following which the BJP pressurized Kejriwal to remove Gautam.
Anti-AAP posters come up ahead of Kejriwal's rally
Kejriwal was rallying in Vadodara on Saturday as Gujarat is set to go to polls later this year. AAP workers removed anti-AAP posters and banners which were put up on Kejriwal's route to the rally venue. Supporters of the BJP — the ruling party in Gujarat — tore banners of AAP ahead of Kejriwal's Tiranga rally claiming that Gautam had made "anti-Hindu" statements.
Satanic forces uniting against me: Kejriwal at Vadodara
God sent me to slay descendants of Kansa: Kejriwal
Dismissing allegations of being anti-Hindu, Kejriwal declared himself a devotee of Lord Hanuman at the rally on Saturday. He compared his opponents to the descendants of Kansa — an antagonist in the epic Mahabharat slain by Lord Krishna. He added that he was born on Janmashtami, considered Krishna's birthday, and that God had sent him to destroy the corrupt descendants of Kansa.
