BJP and AAP Battle Over Portraits in Delhi’s CM Office
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of removing portraits of B.R. Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh from Chief Minister Rekha Gupta’s office
A heated political skirmish erupted in Delhi on Monday as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of removing portraits of B.R. Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh from Chief Minister Rekha Gupta’s office, igniting a war of words that laid bare the deep rivalry between the two parties. The BJP swiftly denied the charge, framing it as a distraction from looming corruption allegations.
The controversy unfolded on the first day of the eighth Delhi Assembly session, just weeks after the BJP ended AAP’s decade-long grip on the capital in elections earlier this month. AAP’s Leader of Opposition, Atishi, a former chief minister, raised the issue in the Assembly, alleging that the removal of Ambedkar, the architect of India’s Constitution, and Bhagat Singh, a revered freedom fighter, from the CM’s office signaled the BJP’s “anti-Dalit and anti-Sikh” stance. She presented a photograph, purportedly taken that day, showing their absence, replaced by images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Droupadi Murmu, and Mahatma Gandhi.
“This is proof of BJP’s disrespect,” Atishi declared at a press conference, her voice sharp with indignation. AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal amplified the claim on X, calling the move an affront to “millions of Ambedkar followers” and urging the BJP to keep the icons’ portraits alongside Modi’s.
The BJP countered with evidence of its own. Delhi’s BJP unit posted photos on social media showing Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh’s portraits still hanging in Gupta’s office, albeit repositioned, alongside Gandhi, Murmu, and Modi. Chief Minister Gupta dismissed the accusations as “tactics to hide AAP’s corruption,” a jab at the anticipated tabling of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reports on Tuesday, which the BJP claims will expose AAP’s misdeeds during its tenure.
Cabinet Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa insisted the portraits remained intact, accusing AAP of staging a diversion. “No one respects Babasaheb more than we do,” he said, referencing AAP’s suppression of CAG findings for three years. Another minister, Ravinder Indraj, displayed the portraits in the Assembly, mocking AAP’s “desperation” ahead of the report’s release.
The dispute revives a symbolic battle rooted in 2022, when Kejriwal, then chief minister, mandated that only Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh’s portraits adorn government offices—a directive AAP now says the BJP has undone. For AAP, the icons represent its commitment to social justice; for BJP, the accusation is a political ploy.
As Delhi’s Assembly braces for the CAG revelations, the portrait clash underscores a broader struggle: a fight not just over images, but over narrative, legacy, and power in India’s capital.
