BENGALURU: With the opposition BJP raising a hue and cry, the state government on Thursday deferred allotment of homes to the slum-dwellers who were evicted from Kogilu in Yelahanka for a day.
Housing Minister BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan said the allotment would be held on Friday after verification of documents of the beneficiaries.
The minister said the GBA and Rajiv Gandhi Housing Corporation would review the documents and provide housing only to the eligible ones at the Karnataka Housing Board quarters in Byappanahalli.
The government has come under fire, first, for razing homes without following due rehabilitation process and, then, for its decision to allot homes to the slum-dwellers.
The BJP alleged that that the government is allotting homes to illegal Bangladeshi Muslims and migrants from other states, including West Bengal, to appease minority community. The party also alleged that the Congress government was succumbing to pressure from Kerala.
Activists dismiss BJP’s charges
The government was also accused of playing to the gallery following the direction from KC Venugopal, AICC General Secretary (Organisation), to look into the demolition. The action is perceived as damage control, as the party will face an assembly election in Kerala and is heavily banking on minority votes.
Social activists from ‘Dudiyojanara Vedike’ have released Google images, showing homes in Fakeer Layout in 2012. They shared the images stating that the slums did not mushroom under the Congress government but were present even during BJP regimes under CMs Basavaraj Bommai, Yediyurappa and DV Sadananda Gowda.
The activists claimed that the Google map showed that around 50 homes where Fakeers had settled about 30 years ago and obtained voter and Aadhaar cards. “They are now Karnataka residents who have documents,” said Manohar Elavarthi from the Vedike.