Delhi minister Rajendra Pal resigns after controversy over conversion event

Delhi minister Rajendra Pal Gautam resigned from his post on Sunday amid a controversy over his presence at a religious conversion event where Hindu deities were allegedly denouncedThe BJP had used the issue to attack AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal during the election campaigning in Gujarat and accused him of being antiHinduIn a letter shared on Twitter Gautam said he attended the event in his personal capacity and it had nothing to do with his party or the ministry He lashed out at the BJP for targeting Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party AAP alleging the saffron party was doing dirty politics on the issueGautam said he is resigning as minister as he does not want his leader or AAP to be in trouble because of himThe controversy erupted last week after a video went viral in which Gautam is seen at an event on October 5 where hundreds took a pledge to convert to Buddhism and to not consider Hindu deities as godsAlso read Arvind Kejriwal Bhagwant Mann to address 2 rallies in pollbound Gujarat todayLeader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said that Gautam had resigned due to pressure from the BJPHe said that only the ministers resignation is not enough and legal action should also be taken against Gautam and he should also be expelled from the party for condemning Hindu gods and goddessesApart from this resignations should also be taken from the Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and minister Satyendra Jain who are involved in corruption the BJP leader saidGautam had accused the BJP of spreading rumours against him and apologised to anyone who has been hurt due to such propagandaI do not want my leader Shri Arvind Kejriwal or the party to be in any trouble because of me I am a true solider of the party and I will follow the ideals shown by Baba Saheb Ambedkar and Gautam Buddh throughout my entire life he said on SundaySources in the chief ministers office said Gautams resignation letter has been received by the chief minister and a decision on it is pendingGautam was the Minister for Social Welfare SC and ST Registrar of Cooperative Societies and Gurudwara Elections He is an MLA from Seemapuri constituencyThe AAP leader said he participated in the October 5 event as a member of a society in personal capacity and it had nothing to do with his party and the council of ministersHe said Rajratana Ambedkar the greatgrandson of Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar reiterated the 22 pledges people take while embracing Buddhism at the event and he had also repeated them along with more than 10000 peopleSince then the BJP has been targeting our leader Arvind Kejriwal ji and the AAP which has pained me a lot the letter readGautam said crores of people repeat these 22 pledges at thousands of places across the country every yearThe BJP is playing dirty politics on the issue which has pained me and therefore I am resigning from my ministerial post he saidHe alleged that the BJP has objections to Baba Saheb Ambedkar and his 22 pledgesGautam thanked Kejriwal for giving him respect and support and praised his party for the work done in the sectors of education health women and child development social welfare electricity and waterHe said the incidents of violence against the members of the Dalit community over the last few years and the discrimination on the basis of caste impales his heartThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever