New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam, who was seen taking an oath denouncing several Hindu gods at an event, resigned from the council of ministers on Sunday.
On Wednesday, Gautam had attended Ashoka Vijaya Dashami celebrations at Ambedkar Bhawan in Jhandewalan, where a group of people were reportedly converted to Buddhism.
A video of the event shows a monk, sharing the dais with Gautam, administering an oath to the gathered Hindus: “I will have no faith in Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh, nor will I worship them as God. I will have no faith in Rama or Krishna, nor will I worship them. I will have no faith in Gauri, Ganapati and other Hindu Gods, nor will I worship them.”
Gautam converted to Buddhism in a religious conversion event in which he denounced Hindu deities.
Taking to Twitter, Gautam announced his resignation and said, “Today I have been freed from many shackles, and been born again. Now I will continue to fight for rights and atrocities on the society more firmly without any restrictions.”
He tendered his resignation in a letter typed on his letterhead. However, the letter was not addressed to anyone in particular.
“In my personal capacity, I attended the Buddhist Dhamma initiation ceremony organized by Mission Jai Bhim and Buddhist Society of India on October 5, 2022 at Ambedkar Bhawan, Rani Jhansi Road on the occasion of Ashoka Vijayadashami, being a member of the society. It had no connection with with the Aam Aadmi Party and I being a council of minister,” he he wrote in a letter.
The BJP has alleged that the remarks made by the AAP minister against Hindu deities and religion during the event were done at the behest of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. Addressing a press conference, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia demanded sacking of Gautam as a minister and an apology from Kejriwal.
A Delhi BJP delegation had met the New Delhi deputy commissioner of police and filed a complaint against the minister.
Speaking to ANI, Gautam said that he has submitted his resignation to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, who has given him a lot of respect.
“Such issue has been created out of oaths that are repeated by several crore people of country. BJP has made it an issue, are trying to insult me and my party,” he said.
The Delhi Social Welfare Minister’s resignation come after facing criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which accused the ruling government in the state of hurting religious sentiments and demanded that the party remove the legislator from his position.
Earlier on Wednesday, the AAP minister had attended Ashoka Vijaya Dashami celebrations at Ambedkar Bhawan in Jhandewalan, where 10,000 people were supposed to embrace Buddhism.
A video of the event went viral in which a monk, sharing the dais with Gautam, administering an oath to the gathered Hindus: “I will have no faith in Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh, nor will I worship them as God. I will have no faith in Rama or Krishna, nor will I worship them. I will have no faith in Gauri, Ganapati and other Hindu Gods, nor will I worship them.”
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