Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday took an aim at the BJP over the anti-encroachment drive in the national capital by the civic body. “The way the BJP is destroying people’s houses and shops in Delhi, it is not right. Bulldozers can run on the shops or houses of 63 lakh people. This will be the biggest destruction of independent India,” he said in a video address. He also promised to ensure to transfer ownership of properties of residents if the AAP is elected to power in the civic body elections.
The Aam Aadmi Party government in the national capital and the BJP, which rules the civic body in the city, have been trading charges over bulldozers in Delhi amid protests. Last week, demonstrations erupted in Shaheen Bagh, once at the heart of anti-citizenship law protests, as the civic body reached with bulldozers to knock down illegal structures.
In the days that followed, New Friends Colony, Dwarka and several other parts saw similar scenes. “From the last few weeks, we have been seeing that in Delhi, by the BJP-ruled civic body, bulldozers have been rolled out in some parts, and it has been said that this will continue for the coming months. They are saying that ‘we are removing structures that have encroached parts in the city’.”
“We also don’t want that encroachment happens… But the way, development has happened in the city over years.. more than 80 per cent of the city can be said to be encroached,” the chief minister said on Monday afternoon.
“The way this is happening is not right.. they don’t have papers. They just enter and start destroying anybody’s house or shop while the person keeps trying to show documents as proof. We are against the way it’s being done.”
