NEW DELHI: In a setback to the AAP, BJP’s Kausar Jahan was elected as the Delhi Haj Committee chairperson on Thursday. She is the second woman to become the Delhi Haj Committee chairperson after Congress leader Tajdar Babar. Jahan got three of the five votes cast by the committee members in the election held at the Delhi Secretariat.
The committee, formed by the Lieutenant-Governor, comprises six members, of which five participated in the voting process while one abstained. The panel consists of two members from AAP, two from BJP, a Muslim theology expert Mohammad Saad and Congress councillor Nazia Danish. The Congress councillor abstained.
The BJP said that Jahan’s election showed that the party was committed to women’s empowerment. “The BJP wanted a woman chairman of the Haj committee, so I proposed the name of Kausar Jahan. Her candidature was supported by Mohammad Saad,” said. BJP MP Gautam Gambhir Gambhir, is among the members of the committee.
Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva said Jahan would bring greater transparency in the working of the committee and would also help increase the number of women in Haj pilgrims every year.AAP, however, accused the L-G of making an unconstitutional appointment to the Delhi Haj Committee.
The L-G does not have the powers to appoint members of the Haj Committee, and in doing so, “he has violated the democratic and constitutional system,” AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj said. Bhardwaj also accused the L-G of changing the members nominated by the elected government to ensure that a BJP candidate gets elected.