Delhi Chief Minister Atishi on Wednesday (Jan 1) launched a scathing attack against Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena reiterating the accusations that he ordered the demolition of temples and other religious structures in the national capital.

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She further claimed that she has “documentary evidence” to back the allegations levelled against Saxena.

"The BJP central government is planning to demolish temples and Buddhist temples in different parts of Delhi. There is a religious committee which makes decisions on the shifting of temples or their demolition...It used to come under the Home Minister of the Delhi government. Till last year, all the decisions of this committee were first placed before the Home Minister and any action was taken only after his approval. But last year Delhi LG ordered that the demolition of any religious place is a law and order issue and hence it comes under Delhi LG and hence Delhi CM or Home Minister has nothing to do with it," Atishi said.

Further showing a document, she said she has the minutes of the meeting that was conducted with the Religious Committee.

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"A meeting of the Religious Committee was held on 22 November. Yesterday LG's office told the media that there is no order to demolish temples. But this is a lie," she added.

"In the meeting held on 22 November, it was decided to demolish many temples located in West Patel Nagar, Dilshad Garden, Seemapuri, Gokalpuri, New Usmanpur and Sultanpuri and a Buddhist temple located in Sundar Nagari. All this is in the minutes of the meeting… Delhi LG has approved it and now DMs and SDMs are preparing to demolish these temples," Atishi further said.

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'Cheap politics'

This comes after Saxena rebuffed the allegations calling it “cheap politics” by the Delhi CM.

The LG secretariat released a statement saying that neither any temples, churches or mosques are being demolished in the national capital nor did he receive any file in this regard.

“If at all, the LG has issued strict instructions to the police to maintain extra vigil against forces who may indulge in deliberate vandalism for political benefits. His instructions are being strictly followed, as was witnessed during the just gone Christmas celebrations which did not see any untoward incident,” the LG secretariat said.

(With inputs from agencies)