Centre to demolish 53 temples in Delhi: AAP

New Delhi: The BJP-led central government wants to demolish 53 temples in the national capital, the AAP said on Wednesday, and termed the saffron party as "anti-Hindu".

Addressing a press conference here, the party's Rajya Sabha MP and national spokesperson Sanjay Singh said the Centre has sent a list of these temples to Delhi government seeking approval of the Religious Committee for their demolition.

"All over the country, they (BJP) stage drama in the name of religion projecting itself as the guardians of faith, engineer clashes and spread hatred. But here in Delhi, the Narendra Modi government is going to demolish 53 temples," the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said. The central government has sent a letter to the Delhi government, saying it needs the Religious Committee's "permission" for the demolition of these 53 temples, he said.

"This is the real face of the BJP. This document is evidence of how big anti-Hindu they are," Singh charged, showing a copy of the letter sent to the Delhi government by land and development office which comes under the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. He called the BJP a party of "hypocrites" and demanded that Prime Minister Modi and the BJP's Delhi unit president Adesh Gupta apologize to the people for the Centre's move to demolish 53 temples in the city.

"Those from the BJP should walk around painting their faces black," Singh said.

Referring to the list of the 53 temples, the AAP MP said 19 of them are located in Kasturba Nagar, 10 in Netaji Nagar, eight in Sarojani Nagar, seven in Sriniwaspuri, five in Thyagraj Nagar, three in Nauroji Nagar and one in Mohammadpur area in the city.

"The list of the temples to be demolished in Delhi includes those of lords Shiv, Ram, Krishna, and Hanuman, goddess Durga and Sai Baba. They are not sparing any of them," he said, and sought an answer from the BJP.