NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) top guns Sanjay Singh and Gopal Rai on Monday lashed out at the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, accusing them of indulging in cheap politics on the issue of ownership status to residents of the city’s unauthorised colonies.
The leaders said the issue shouldn’t be seen or used a ‘lollypop’ for votes. “The process of registration of properties should start before the election dates are announced. Our government is awaiting the nod from agencies such as the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and MCDs, among others, before going ahead with its plans. The issue was used by the Congress and the BJP for decades for political capital. However, we’ll not let them exploit an issue, which concerns the welfare of residents of such colonies,” Rai, the party’s Delhi-in-charge, said.
Singh claimed the BJP was fooling the people. “Now, the Centre has decided to open a website and will ask residents to submit online applications for registration. However, all that a resident is going to get after sending his/her application is a number. This shows that this is nothing but a BJP ploy to bring the people by its side before the elections,” he said.
The issue, while hogging political spotlight, especially during elections, had continued to remain unaddressed for decades.
The Centre recently cleared a proposal to grant ownership rights to settlers in such colonies. All the major political players — AAP, BJP and the Congress — have been vying for credit since the Centre cleared the proposal.
He said the Congress government, too, resorted to a similar ploy in 2008 when it distributed provisional certificates to residents of unauthorised colonies.