Centre wants to demolish all slums in Delhi, alleges AAP; BJP hits back
New Delhi, Jan 12: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) alleged on Friday that the BJP-led Centre wants to demolish all slums in Delhi.
Addressing a press conference, Delhi cabinet ministers Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj said slums in the national capital are being demolished "in an inhuman manner", without rehabilitating the affected slum dwellers.
Atishi alleged that at a meeting on January 9, the Centre directed land-owning agencies, such as the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), to clear all slum clusters in the city.
Atishi said whenever elections are held in Delhi, be it for the Lok Sabha, Assembly or the MCD, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) makes a promise to slum dwellers that it will build houses for them wherever they are residing. Before every election, the BJP releases advertisements in this regard, the leaders of the party go to the slums and fill up forms, promising houses for each slum dweller, she added.
The AAP leader said just before the MCD polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had distributed some 500 flats to people in Kalkaji and the BJP released a full-page newspaper advertisement, saying each slum dweller in Delhi would be given a house within a five-kilometre radius of their current residences.
"Soon after the election, the prime minister handed the keys to the flats in a housing complex to people, while the BJP-governed DDA ordered the demolition of the slums adjacent to that complex," she alleged.
Atishi claimed that after elections, the BJP either demolishes slums, relocates the affected slum dwellers to footpaths or sends them to places 50 kilometres away, where there are no jobs for them, no schools for their children and no means of transportation.
"The BJP-led central government is conspiring to completely remove slums from Delhi under a conspiracy in a systematic way," the Delhi minister alleged.
Echoing similar views, Bharadwaj alleged that the Centre is demolishing jhuggi jhopri (JJ) colonies under a conspiracy.
He said it is the duty of the land-owning agencies to rehabilitate the slum dwellers.
Bharadwaj said some notified JJ clusters were removed despite court orders.
He added that in the last couple of years, most of the demolition drives were carried out on land belonging to the Centre, despite a clear-cut policy available in the matter. Hundreds of schoolgoing children and women involved in odd jobs have become homeless due to these demolitions, he added.
The AAP leader said before the G20 Summit, a JJ colony at Dhaula Kuan was demolished despite the deputy chief minister's orders to the contrary.
Reacting to the allegations, Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva accused the AAP government in Delhi of not allowing the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana in the national capital and not allotting around 50,000 Rajiv Awas houses that have already been constructed to the urban poor, denying them an opportunity for a better life.
Sachdeva said that for the sake of political survival, the AAP is raising issues for which it itself is responsible.
"The DDA, on the instructions of the Centre, has implemented 'Jahan Jhuggi Wahan Makan' projects at three places in Delhi, but the city government has not implemented the scheme at a jhuggi cluster on one of its land," he added.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
KKR defeat LSG via Super Over
Lucknow (PTI): Kolkata Knight Riders edged Lucknow Super Giants via Super Overs in a battle between two bottom-placed teams in the IPL, here on Sunday.
Chasing a modest 156, LSG suffered a batting collapse and managed to tie the contest and take it to Super Over with No. 9 Mohammed Shami striking a last-ball six against a wayward Kartik Tyagi, who leaked 16 runs in the final over.
But Sunil Narine bowled a stunning Super Over conceding just one run and taking two wickets to give KKR an easy target.
Rinku Singh then finished the chase with a boundary off first ball from Prince Yadav.
Earlier the KKR were in deep trouble with 93/7 in 15 overs but Rinku smashed a sensational 83 not out from 51 balls including four sixes in a row in the final over to lift them to 155/7.
Cameron Green (34) was the only other batter to reach double-digit scores as KKR suffered a familiar batting meltdown with Mohsin taking his maiden fifer.
In reply, LSG continued their dismal show with the bat to succumb to their fifth loss in a row.
Brief Scores:
Kolkata Knight Riders 155/7; 20 overs (Rinku Singh 83 not out, Cameron Green 34; Mohsin Khan 5/23). Lucknow Super Giants 155/8; 20 overs (Rishabh Pant 42). KKR won via Super Over.
