New Delhi, Dec 21 (IANS): Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva said on Saturday that Arvind Kejriwal’s announcement of the “Dr. Ambedkar Samman Scholarship” for Dalit students aiming to study abroad is nothing but a repackaged old scheme.

Sachdeva pointed out that Kejriwal had similarly announced a scheme for higher education scholarships for Scheduled Caste students before the 2020 elections, and that scheme has remained stagnant ever since. Yet, Kejriwal has now reintroduced it with a new name.

He challenged Kejriwal to explain why, under this 2020 scheme, only Rs 25 lakh worth of scholarships had been distributed till date while the government had allegedly spent nearly crores of rupees on its promotion in 2020-21.

Delhi BJP leader Harish Khurana has also sought an answer regarding student scholarships through an X post.

Earlier, BJP MP and former Delhi BJP President Manoj Tiwari accused AAP leaders Kejriwal and Sanjay Singh of disrespecting the Purvanchal community and questioning their social identity.

He alleged that AAP’s immediate show of respect for Purvanchalis is merely pretentious.

The press conference, moderated by Media Chief Praveen Shankar Kapoor, also highlighted Tiwari’s contributions to strengthening the identity of the Purvanchal community in Delhi.

Kapoor emphasised that Tiwari played a key role in getting Chhath Puja declared as a public holiday in the city, thus giving due respect to the major festival of Purvanchal.

During the event, Tiwari challenged Kejriwal and Sanjay Singh to issue a clear response within 24 hours about whether the votes of illegal Bangladeshi and Rohingya infiltrators in Delhi should be removed.

“We raised this issue in Parliament, advocating for detaining and deporting illegal infiltrators to their respective countries without subjecting them to violence,” the BJP MP asserted.