AAP claims EDMC asked temples, gurdwaras & mosques to pay property tax; BJP rejects charge


PTI | New Delhi | Updated: 07-12-2021 20:33 IST | Created: 07-12-2021 20:33 IST
AAP claims EDMC asked temples, gurdwaras & mosques to pay property tax; BJP rejects charge
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The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) claimed on Tuesday that the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) has asked temples, gurdwaras and mosques in its jurisdiction to pay property tax threatening to seal their premises if they fail to comply with its order.

Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters here, AAP MLA Atishi likened the BJP-ruled civic body's notices to temples in east Delhi for payment of property tax to Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's 'Jizya' and demanded that the move be withdrawn.

EDMC Mayor Shyam Sunder Aggarwal, however, rejected the AAP leader's claim as ''baseless'' and called it ''a poll stunt'' of the party ahead of the elections to three civic bodies early next year.

''The EDMC has sent notices to several temples asking them to pay property tax, else their premises will be sealed. In 1679, Aurangzeb had imposed 'Jizya' on the temples. Today, in 2021, the EDMC has imposed property tax on temples. This is the real face of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),'' she told reporters, showing a copy of a notice at the press conference.

Rejecting the AAP leader's claim, the EDMC mayor said, ''To my knowledge, the EDMC has not served any such notice and will not do so as the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act does not have any provision for it.'' However, when asked about a copy of a document shown by Atishi during her press conference in this connection, he said, ''We will check if there is any clerical mistake and action will be taken accordingly.'' AAP councillor and Leader of Opposition in the EDMC Manoj Tyagi claimed that the civic body has sent notices to ''all the temples, gurdwaras and masjids'' in east Delhi and asking them to deposit property tax, asserting that his party will not let the East Corporation collect property tax from them or seal them on the ground of non-payment of the tax.

Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor hit out at the AAP leaders and rejected their claims, saying they are ''in the habit of exaggerating issues''. ''In an inadvertent clerical error, a property tax notice issued by the EDMC for a Dharamsala mentions the name of an adjoining temple. The EDMC mayor is personally looking into the matter and in case, it is found to be mischievously done then necessary action will be taken against the staff concerned,'' he said.

People of Delhi should remain assured that civic bodies do not levy property tax on any religious place in the national capital nor would ever do so in future, the BJP leader added.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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