A village panchayat chief in Aligarh district has threatened to convert to some other religion along with his family, accusing a BJP MP of going back on his promise of “protecting Hindus” and “grabbing our land”.

“We had supported (Hathras MP) Rajvir Singh Diller in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections because he had promised to protect the rights of Hindus. He had told us that his entire political life was dedicated to the Hindus. But now, he is victimising us and grabbing our land. My entire family is disillusioned and we are planning to convert to some other religion soon,” said Ashok Azad, the elected chief of the Daurau-Chandpur village panchayat in Aligarh district, from where the MP hails. Hathras is an adjoining district.

“Rajvir’s wife Rajni Diller had contested the 2015 panchayat election against me and lost. Although he never showed any anger against me and sought my help in the Lok Sabha elections, he changed after winning and became vindictive against me and my family,” Azad said.

“Four months ago, the authorities demolished a portion of my house on the orders of the MP. They claimed that the constructions had been made on gram panchayat land.

Later, he constructed a boundary wall on my land, claiming it was his property. I have moved court against the demolition and encroachment but the police are warning me against pursuing the case,” he added.

“There are 20 members in our family and all of us have moved an application before the local administration requesting that we be allowed to relinquish Hinduism and adopt some other religion,” Azad told reporters.

Diller, the MP, rubbished the allegations.

“The panchayat chief had constructed a room on the land of the gram panchayat. The villagers had submitted a complaint with me and I had forwarded it to the local authorities. My wife never contested a panchayat election. Whatever he is saying is a lie,” Diller said.