BJP did nothing for Hindu victims of 2020 riot, Kejriwal stood by them: AAP

After a brother of slain IB officer Ankit Sharma was given a job in the Delhi government, the AAP stepped up its attack on the BJP on Thursday, saying it does politics in the name of Hindus but did not do anything for the community members who suffered due to the 2020 riots.

The party alleged that the large-scale violence in northeast Delhi was "a well-thought-out plan and a conspiracy" of the BJP, but it did not come forward to provide "any help" to the Hindus who fell victims to the riots.

"We had a feeling that the BJP, which would certainly not help Muslims as it hates them, would help the Hindu society. But it is very unfortunate that the BJP, which only plays politics in the name of Hindus, did not come forward to help any of the Hindu families who were victims of the riots," Durgesh Pathak, a member of the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) political affairs committee and national executive told a press conference here.

He said it was the Arvind Kejriwal government that helped the riot victims "in all possible ways".

Chief Minister Kejriwal handed over the appointment letter to the brother of Sharma, an Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer who was killed during the riots.

The Chief Minister's Office said Kejriwal had last year handed over a cheque for Rs 1 crore to Sharma's family.

Pathak said, "Why didn't the BJP government at the Centre do anything for his family when the IB comes under it? Ankit Sharma was a Hindu."

"Everybody knows that behind the Delhi riots, there was a well-thought-out plan. The entire conspiracy was hatched by the BJP so that it can reap political dividends," he said.

The AAP leader demanded that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its leaders apologise to the Hindu society for not helping any of the victims of the Delhi riots.

He appealed to the "Hindu society" to ask the BJP leaders seeking their votes why did they not do anything for the family of Sharma.

"This is an eye-opener for everybody," Pathak said, while alleging that "the BJP and its leaders are not just against Muslims, but against Hindus as well".

Hitting back, the BJP accused Kejriwal and Pathak of playing politics after extending a "compensation package" to the family of the slain IB official and said it was the constitutional duty of the Delhi government to extend a "relief package" to the riot victims' families without disclosing their religion or caste.

"It is also so sad that the Delhi government and the AAP are talking about the victim's religion after extending the relief package after a delay of two years," Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said in a statement.

He also accused Kejriwal of giving "political patronage to Sharma's murder accused and former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain".

"The Delhi chief minister and AAP leader Durgesh Pathak are accountable to tell the people of Delhi that if they are really sensitive towards Ankit Sharma's family, then why have they till date not expelled his murder accused, Tahir Hussain, from the Aam Aadmi Party," Kapoor said.

After its stupendous poll victory in Punjab, the AAP has sharpened its attack on the BJP with an eye on the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls later this year.

The Delhi unit of the AAP has gone into poll mode to wrest power from the BJP in the civic bodies in the national capital.

While the BJP rules all the three municipal corporations in Delhi, the AAP is the main opposition party.