'Over 80% of Delhi can be called encroached, will you demolish all?'
Kejriwal targets BJP over anti-encroachment drive
New Delhi, May 16: Slamming the anti-encroachment drive being carried out in various parts of the city, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said if bulldozers raze shops and houses of 63 lakh people in Delhi, which are considered illegal, it will be the "biggest destruction" in independent India.
At a meeting with Aam Aadmi Party MLAs on the matter, Kejriwal told them that they should be ready to go to jail for opposing the anti-encroachment drive being carried out by the BJP-led municipal corporations in various parts of Delhi.
"They are reaching colonies with bulldozers and razing any shop and house. Even if people show them papers to prove that the structure is not illegal, they do not check them," he said.
"Delhi has not been made in a planned way. More than 80 per cent of Delhi can be called illegal and encroached. Does that mean you will destroy 80 per cent of Delhi?" he said in an online briefing.
The party is against the way the anti-encroachment drive is being carried out, he said, adding nearly 50 lakh people stay in unauthorised colonies, 10 lakh in 'jhuggis' and there are lakhs of people who have modified balconies or done something that does not conform to original maps.
"That means homes and shops of 63 lakh people will be bulldozed. This will be the biggest destruction happening in independent India," he said.
While noting that the Aam Aadmi Party is against encroachment and wants Delhi to look beautiful, he said razing homes and shops of 63 lakh people will not be tolerated.
"In the last 15 years, the BJP was in power in MCD and took money. Their tenure will be ending on May 18. Do you have constitutional power to take such a big decisions. Let elections happen and let that party take the decision. Everyone knows that the AAP will come to power in MCD," he said.
He assured people that the AAP will solve the problem of encroachment and people residing in unauthorised colonies will get ownership rights.
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Man launches attack with iron rod inside Golden Temple in Amritsar, injures 5
Amritsar, Mar 14 (PTI): A man wielding an iron rod went on an indiscriminate rampage on Friday here at Golden Temple, injuring two 'sewadars' and three devotees, police said.
The man was seen moving in the Guru Ramdas Niwas, also called Guru Ramdas Sarai, of the Golden Temple.
According to Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) Secretary Partap Singh, the man turned violent when asked about his antecedents and attacked the SGPC employees and the others.
Police said the man hailed from Haryana and was handed over to them by the SGPC after the incident.
The reason behind the attack is under investigation.
The three injured devotees had come to the temple from Mohali, Bathinda and Patiala, while the other two were 'sewadars' of Sri Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple), Partap Singh said.
One 'sewadar' and a devotee from Bathinda suffered severe head injuries.
The injured were rushed to Sri Guru Ramdas Hospital at Vallah in a critical condition.
Partap Singh said the attacker and an accomplice of his were apprehended and handed over to the police.
In his appeal to the government and law enforcement agencies, the SGPC Secretary called for no leniency in taking action against the perpetrators.
