Rajasthan BJP expels party leader over remark on gurdwaras

The BJP in Rajasthan on Sunday expelled a party leader in Alwar, Sandeep Dayma, over his derogatory remark on gurdwaras and mosques at a recent rally in the Tijara assembly constituency.

The decision to expel Dayma was announced by Onkar Singh Lakhawat, the chairman of the Rajasthan BJP's disciplinary committee.

"Sandeep Dayma has been expelled from the party on the direction of the state president for making a statement against the ideology of the party," Lakhawat said.

The development comes after widespread criticism of Dayma's remark at the rally in Tijara before the filing of nomination papers by BJP candidate Baba Balaknath for the November 25 Rajasthan assembly polls.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was also present in the rally.

Speaking at a rally on Wednesday, Dayma reportedly said that mosques and gurdwaras that have come up will become "open sores" and those should be uprooted.

Facing flak over the remark, Dayma, a former chairman of the Tijara Nagar Palika, issued a video apology, claiming that he intended to say "mosques and madrassas" but somehow ended up uttering the words "mosques and gurdwaras" by mistake.

"With folded hands, I apologise to the Sikh samaj. I don't know how this mistake happened. I cannot even imagine that I could make such a wrong comment for the Sikh community that has always defended Hindu and 'Sanatan Dharma'," Dayma added.

On Thursday, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee shared the video apology of Dayma on the social media platform 'X' and charged that the BJP leader should be ashamed of his apology as well.

"In his apology, BJP leader Sandeep Dayma, who gave a statement of uprooting gurdwaras and mosques during his party rally in Tijara, says, 'I wanted to say masjid-madrassa but somehow ended up saying gurdwara.' He should be ashamed of this statement too as commenting against the religious places of Muslims is equally condemnable…," it said.

On Sunday, BJP leaders in Punjab also sought the expulsion of Dayma.

The women's wing chief of the Punjab BJP, Jai Inder Kaur, got a police complaint lodged in Chandigarh against Dayma.

While senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh sought strict action against Dayma, the party's Punjab unit chief, Sunil Jakhar, said the Rajasthan leader's outburst cannot be condoned.

Dayma had contested the 2018 Rajasthan assembly polls from the Tijara seat.

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