NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday criticized incumbent Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government and previous Congress regimes for delaying regularisation of city’s unauthorised colonies.
Addressing a rally at Ramlila Maidan, Modi said that AAP and Congress leaders were never honest in providing permanent solutions to the people living in illegal settlements or in ending their woes.
“Despite the lapse of decades after independence, a large population in unauthorised colonies lived in uncertainty and fear. The governments played fraud upon them. They did not miss a chance to create hurdles even when we were working to grant ownership rights to them. But, they did not realise that this is Modi,” he said, addressing the ‘Dhanyawad (thanksgiving) rally’.
The event was attended by Union ministers Prakash Javadekar, who is election incharge for Delhi BJP, Hardeep Singh Puri, and Nitayanad Rai. Present on the occasions were seven MPs of Delhi and Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Goel.
The meeting was organised by BJP’s local unit to express gratitude to the PM for approving property ownership rights to people living in 1,731 unauthorised colonies.
In the rally, the PM was presented with reportedly 11 lakh signatures of residents of illegal colonies built on government and agricultural land in gratitude for the decision.
Hitting out at the Delhi government over alleged contamination of drinking water, Modi said, “The government claims that clean water is available everywhere but the truth is that maximum numbers of water purifiers in India is sold in Delhi. Those who cannot install purifiers are either forced to buy water cans or use polluted water.”
Modi also blamed ‘highly placed’ people in the AAP dispensation for spreading rumours during recent violent protests against new citizenship law in the city. Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister had tweeted a video questioning role of Delhi Police during violence near Jamia Millia Islamia in which four buses were torched. Referring to the birth of a girl in a Pakistani Hindu refugee colony in Majnu ka Tila, soon after the law was passed and christened ‘Nagrikta’, Modi asked “What problem would those opposing the law have if she has a peaceful life in the country?”He also urged people attending the rally to ensure cleanliness and refrain from using single-use plastic.
‘BJP cheats like Cong’
Slamming the Centre for not beginning the registration of properties, CM Arvind Kejriwal said BJP was cheating like Congress. “People (of colonies) have been cheated again. They expected the registry to start today,” he claimed.