New Delhi, Aug 17 (IANS): Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) lawmaker Akhilesh Pati Tripathi on Thursday asked BJP about the monthly salaries being provided to the temple priests in BJP-ruled state.

“BJP asks why temple priests are not being given salaries. I want to ask them which BJP-ruled state is providing salaries to the priests,” said Tripathi.

He said that there was a need for a law on the lines of the Waqf Act to provide salaries to priests.

He said as the Waqf passed by the central government, there was a need for a law in favor of temple priests as well.

He said that there should be fixed salaries for the temple priests.

“If centre brings a law similar to Waqf Board Act, the AAP government will be the first to provide salaries to the temple priests,” the AAP MLA said.

Talking to IANS, BJP MLA Vijender Gupta said that if AAP can provide salaries to Imams of mosques without asking the central government, they could provide salaries to priests as well.

“In fact, they don’t want to help temple priests,” Gupta said.