BJP 'anti-poor', tried to demolish shanties in Delhi's Jangpura: AAP

New Delhi, Nov 22 (PTI) The AAP on Wednesday alleged that the BJP is complicit in the demolition exercise being carried out in southeast Delhi's Jangpura area and stressed that the Arvind Kejriwal-led party is standing by the affected people.

Hitting back, the Delhi BJP alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party government has 'done nothing' to improve the lives of jhuggi dwellers in the national capital.

A demolition drive was carried out on Tuesday in southeast Delhi with the police saying everything went off smoothly.

Addressing a press conference, AAP MLA from Burari, Sanjeev Jha said the BJP, with its 'anti-poor' stance, continues its attempts to demolish the homes of the poor and marginalised people living in slums continuously.

He also targeted the BJP, referring to the demolition of shanties in Okhla in December 2022 and then the attempt by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to demolish slums in Govindpuri.

'Why do the BJP leaders hold such animosity towards the poor people living in slums? Now, as the cold sets in, while the Delhi government is setting up camps for those living on the streets and constructing the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) shelter houses, the BJP attempted to run bulldozers in a locality in Jangpura,' he said.

'The Centre intentionally turned a blind eye towards DUSIB, making two other individuals party to the case without consulting DUSIB. Then the court ordered the demolition of slums. As soon as Jangpura MLA Praveen Kumar received this information, he approached the court with DUSIB,' he added.

The DUSIB stated that since a notice had been issued regarding this cluster, it couldn't be demolished, he said.

Jha also noted that there is a ban on construction and demolition in Delhi, owing to pollution.

AAP MLA Praveen Kumar said there are 675 clusters under DUSIB, which include the JJ Cluster.

Among these 675 clusters, Cluster 223 is the DPS Sunder Nursery Mathura Road cluster, where DUSIB has registered around 216 slums. This case dates back to 2019 when the two parties went to court.

'Since that land belongs to the L&DO, the court had instructed the L&DO to stop encroachments. The High Court had previously clarified this, and in yesterday's decision, it was reiterated that government policy should not be neglected. Government policy should be implemented at the ground level, and work should be carried out accordingly,' Kumar said.

Kumar, who is the AAP MLA from Jangpura, alleged that despite the court's decision, L&DO began marking and breaking homes on Tuesday.

'Even though the court verbally instructed that there should be no demolition until 10.30 am, encroachment still occurred. This is a violation of the court's decision. When I showed papers on the ground and asked if they hadn't received a lawyer's call, they admitted they had. Yet L&DO officials continued operating the bulldozer,' he said.

The AAP is fully prepared to protect the dwellings of the poor and fight for their rights, he said.

The Delhi BJP alleged that the government has 'done nothing' to rehabilitate the jhuggi dwellers.

'It is shocking to see MLAs Sanjeev Jha and Praveen Kumar doing a press conference to score political brownie points from jhuggi dwellers of Jangpura assembly even as their own government's DUSIB did nothing to rehabilitate the jhuggi dwellers,' it said.

Delhi BJP spokespersons Shikha Rai and Amit Tiwari said the government and its DUSIB should tell Delhi as to how many jhuggi dwellers have been rehabilitated by them in the last almost nine years. PTI SLB CK