NEW DELHI: AAP’s New Delhi candidate Brajesh Goyal on Sunday targeted sitting MP Meenakshi Lekhi for her silence on sealing drives, saying that the BJP had damaged the business of traders in the constituency.
“The BJP ruined traders of several prominent markets in New Delhi constituency due to brutal and mindless sealing of legal shops and commercial establishments which these traders had developed through hard work and sweat over many decades,” Goyal said.
The AAP leader said that Lekhi had refused to meet him when he had approached her on the same issue and questioned her party’s plan on how the shops could be unsealed.
In 2018, prominent markets such as Defence Colony, Meharchand Market, Amar Colony, Green Park, Hauz Khas, and Lajpat Nagar faced a tough time because of sealing drives conducted by the civic bodies.
In response to AAP’s claims, Lekhi said that amendments in the Master Plan of Delhi allowed residents having plots in Lal Dora areas to use their plots for storage or godown purposes. “This gave a huge relief to the people of urban villages whose major source of earning were these godowns, and were given a relief from sealing.”
In return, Lekhi raised questions about the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government’s steps taken on demarcation of land in the unauthorised colonies.
“There are more than 1,700 unauthorised colonies in Delhi with nearly 40 lakh people living there,” she said.
“Despite regular demands, the AAP government has not done demarcation yet. It leads to a constant fear of demolition of their houses at these colonies in the city.”