Azamgarh (UP), Dec 23 (IANS): After Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), now the Bhim Army has announced that it will field candidates in the 2021 panchayat polls in Uttar Pradesh.

Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad said that he decided to contest the panchayat elections as "atrocities on Dalits were increasing in rural areas" of the state.

He also accused the Yogi Adityanath government of "settling scores with the opposition" by targeting their supporters and expressed concern over law and order in UP.

The panchayat elections are likely to be held in March-April 2021. The term of present panchayats will expire this month.

Chandrashekhar, whose political outfit is now known as Azad Samaj Party, pointed out that the panchayat elections were a precursor to the 2022 Assembly elections.

The Bhim Army chief, who arrived here to meet the Azamgarh District Magistrate over alleged delay in providing medical help to a Dalit village head killed recently, had heated arguments with policemen before his meeting with the officer.

"People should be given due respect in a democracy. The treatment meted out to me here proves that officials are threatening people," he told reporters.

Attacking the BJP, Chandrashekhar said that while Union Home Minister Amit Shah is taking part in road shows and election rallies in West Bengal, Parliament's Winter Session has been cancelled on the pretext of coronavirus.

"The Union government is doing this to avoid opposition questions as it does not have answers to them," he remarked.