EDMC asked temples, gurdwaras & mosques to pay property tax: AAP
New Delhi, Dec. 7: 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temples in east Delhi for payment of property tax to Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s ‘Jizya’ and demanded that the move be withdrawn.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.”
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.