Ambedkar, Bhagat Singh portraits removed from Delhi CM's office? BJP fact-checks AAP's claims

An image of Delhi CM Rekha Gupta's office shared by the Delhi unit of the BJP. (Source: X/@BJP4Delhi)

The Bharatiya Janata Party has reacted strongly to the Opposition Aam Aadmi Party's claim that the new government that took charge last Friday "removed" the photographs of Dr BR Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh from the Chief Minister's office and replaced them with those of Mahatma Gandhi, President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In a tweet put out by the Delhi unit of the BJP, the party said that the portraits were indeed present in the office of Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and suggested that the Opposition party was resorting to such claims only because they were scared of the CAG reports that are to be tabled in the Assembly on Tuesday.

"The chambers of the Chief Minister of Delhi, Mrs Rekha Gupta and all the ministers are adorned with the pictures of revered Mahatma Gandhi, Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, Bhagat Singh, Her Excellency the President and the Prime Minister," it said.

@gupta_rekha , , , pic.twitter.com/zx6puyqr1w

BJP Delhi (@BJP4Delhi) February 24, 2025

Earlier today, AAP raked up a storm with former CM and Leader of Opposition Atishi claiming that the BJP was "anti-Dalit" and "anti-Sikh" as she displayed two pictures of the Chief Minister's office -- the one with photos of Ambedkar and Singh on display when she was in office and another with the images of Mahatma Gandhi, President Murmu and PM Modi with CM Gupta there.

“BJP has shown its true anti-Dalit and anti-Sikh face. Photos of Babasaheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar and Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh have been removed from the Chief Minister’s Office of Delhi Legislative Assembly," she said in a post on X.

“The anti-Dalit mentality of the BJP is well known. Today, proof of its anti-Dalit mentality has been presented. Kejriwal had put up photos of Babasaheb Ambedkar and Shaheed Bhagat Singh in every office of the Delhi government. Since the BJP has come to power, it has removed both these photos from the Chief Minister’s office," she later said at a press conference.

https://t.co/k9A2HKFECV Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) February 24, 2025

Arvind Kejriwal, national convener of the AAP, also echoed Atishi's allegations and claimed that the ‘removal’ of Ambedkar’s photo had hurt million of his followers.

"The new BJP government of Delhi removed Baba Saheb's photo and put up the photo of Prime Minister Modi. This is not right. This has hurt millions of followers of Baba Saheb. I have a request to BJP. You can put the photo of the Prime Minister but do not remove the photo of Baba Sahib. Let his photo remain there," he said on X.

Reacting to AAP's remarks, the Chief Minister termed them as AAP's tactic to hide their corruption and misdeeds behind Babasaheb Ambedkar and Shaheed Bhagat Singh.

"Should the photo of the Head of Government not be put up? Should the photo of the President of the country not be put up? Should the photo of Father of the Nation Gandhi ji not be put up? Bhagat Singh and Babasaheb are respectable personalities of the country and our guide. So, this room is of the CM of Delhi and as the Head of the Govt, we have given them the space. It is not my work to answer them, I am answerable to the people," she told news agency ANI.

BJP MLA Arvinder Singh Lovely accused the Kejriwal-led party of being “scared" as the CAG reports would be tabled in the Assembly session. “These people are just scared of CAG reports. That is why they are creating chaos. They don’t have any issue but they can’t escape it (discussion on CAG reports)," he said.