NEW DELHI: Raising the issue of slum demolition, AAP workers along with senior party leaders on Saturday protested outside Delhi BJP office, days after the AAP government ordered withdrawal from demolition of slums at Dhaula Kuan.
The PWD had asked slum residents in Dhaula Kuan to vacate the land within 15 days. “During the election, the BJP gave the slogan of ‘Jahan Jhuggi Vahan Makkan’. However, as elections concluded now they affixed demolition notices all around the city,” said AA P MLA Atishi.
She said that the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) affixed the demolition notices at Navjeewan Camp, Nehru Camp, slums in Chattarpur, Tughlakabad and Mehrauli.
Earlier this week, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who also holds the PWD portfolio, tweeted, “PWD officials have been ordered to immediately withdraw the order to demolish slums located near Dhaula Kuan.”
“We have been demanding that those who have been living in colonies for decades should not be evicted. At the behest of the BJP, DDA is working in an unconstitutional manner which we condemn,” said Somnath Bharti, AA P MLA from Malviya Nagar.
Atishi also said that the AAP would challenge the DDA decision in the high court if they will not consider it.
“We will fight against this demolition order from the street to the Parliament. We have already sent notice to the DDA,” she said.
Senior party leaders including Atishi, Somnath Bharti, Adil Ahmed Khan, Shelly Oberoi and others also participated in the protest.
Looking at the intensity of the protest, the police barricaded outside the BJP office and deploy adequate force to control the crowd. To disperse the AA P workers, police briefly used water cannon.
Reacting to the allegation of demolition, Delhi BJP Spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor has said AAP’s leaders – especially its MLA Atishi – are politically frustrated due to the exposure of the corrupt governance of the government during the last 6 months.”
“In the MCD polls, AA P lost all three wards of the Kalkaji assembly constituency where Atishi is MLA. Now to regain lost political ground, she is making false propaganda that the Centre Government is going back on its announcement on ‘Jahan Jhuggi Wahan Makan’ for the Kalkaji slum dwellers,” he said.