NEW DELHI: Kausar Jahan, a member of BJP, was elected the Delhi Haj Committee chairperson on Thursday, leading to allegations by AAP that constitutional provisions were violated by the lieutenant governor in getting her elected to the post.Jahan herself said, “I want to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi. My duty is to ensure that I live up to the party’s sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas commitment.” She informed that she was an executive member of Delhi BJP’s minority wing. “I want to tell AAP that it should rise above the party politics and work together for the minorities,” she said.A senior BJP functionary said that Kausar received three of the five votes in the election held at Delhi Secretariat. AAP leaders boycotted the poll, alleging discrepancies. The Haj Committee comprises six members, two members each from AAP and BJP, among them MP Gautam Gambhir, Muslim theology expert Mohammad Saad and Congress councillor Nazia Danish.Delhi BJP working president Virendra Sachdeva said Jahan’s victory indicated the Muslim community’s trust in the saffron party. “I think her victory in a true sense shows PM Modi’s popularity and his acceptance in every section,” said Sachdeva.The three votes received by the BJP-affiliated candidate included those of Gambhir, Saad and Kausar herself. Danish abstained from voting. Sources in BJP said Sachdev’s image has received a fillip, this being his first electoral assignment and a successful one. AAP MLAs Abdul Rehman and Haji Yunus are also members of the committee.MLA Atishi said that the Haj Committee was part of Delhi government’s revenue department and so fell under the list of ‘transferred subjects’. “The orders of the Supreme Court make it clear that the LG does not have any independent decision-making powers on transferred subjects,” Atishi said, adding that the elected government alone had the power to nominate Haj Committee members according to the established legal precedent in Delhi for over three decades.Atishi pointed out that under Section 17 of The Haj Committee Act, 2002, the state government constitutes the State Haj Committee. There is no dispute as to the competent authority to constitute the panel because constitutional principles, Supreme Court decisions and the Haj Committee Act clearly vested this power in the elected government of state, she said.Delhi BJP spokesperson Syed Yaseer Jilani has said AAP was frustrated after its defeat in the Haj panel polls. “It is strange that Delhi Haj Committee was constituted by the LG on January 6 and after 40 days, AAP leaders are calling it illegal. Kejriwal does not believe in giving any position of authority to women and he and his party are shocked to see that BJP has put up a woman to serve the Haj committee,” Jilani claimed.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/haj-committee-chair-goes-to-bjp-aap-cries-foul/articleshow/97996382.cms
