New Delhi, Jan 31 (PTI) BJP Dalit candidates on Friday lambasted AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann over the defiling of Dr BR Ambedkar's statue in Amritsar, alleging that the act betrayed the party's "empty promises" to the marginalised.

"If Kejriwal is silent on the attack on Ambedkar's statue today, he will also remain silent if an MLA from the Dalit community faces injustice tomorrow," a BJP Dalit candidate said at a press conference here.

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The BJP leaders criticised Kejriwal for never giving Rajya Sabha representation to a Dalit or appointing a Dalit Deputy CM in the past decade.

They alleged that while AAP only made "empty promises" to Dalits, the BJP fielded Dalit candidates even in general category seats like Ballimaran and Matia Mahal.

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The saffron party also called upon AAP's Dalit candidates, in the fray for the February 5 election, to question Kejriwal on his "silence" on the vandalism.

The party also demanded justice for Santosh Koli, a Dalit leader from AAP, who reportedly died in an accident in 2013. Her mother then alleged she was murdered after several death threats, which the party never paid any heed to.

"They didn't even hesitate to get Baba Saheb's statue demolished. I ask AAP's 12 Dalit candidates — will they tolerate this insult to Ambedkar," asked Dushyant Kumar Gautam, BJP candidate from Karol Bagh, a seat reserved for Dalits.

Rajkumar Anand, the BJP candidate from Patel Nagar, another such constituency, asserted that the vandalisation of Ambedkar's statue in Punjab was an insult to the Dalit community.

An AAP turncoat who joined the BJP last year, Anand alleged that he resigned from the party membership because SC/ST funds in Delhi were being diverted for nine years.

"If he has installed even a single Ambedkar statue, let him show proof. The BJP, on the other hand, is providing reservations beyond the mandated seats, proving its commitment to Dalit empowerment," he said.

On January 26, police arrested Akash Singh, a resident of Dharamkot in Punjab's Moga district, for allegedly damaging the Ambedkar statue at the Town Hall on Heritage Street that leads to the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

A video clip purportedly of the incident surfaced on social media, showing a man carrying a hammer and climbing atop the statue using a steel ladder. He is seen hitting the statue multiple times with the hammer.

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