Declare Noida part of Delhi: AAP local chief urges PM Modi
Noida, Sep 13: In an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Aam Aadmi Party's Gautam Buddh Nagar unit chief has urged to make western Uttar Pradesh district, including Noida, a part of Delhi.
In the letter, AAP's Gautam Buddh Nagar president Bhupendra Singh Jadaun said that the move would ensure development of the district on the lines of the national capital and people would get basic amenities like water, electricity and public transport either free or at minimum cost.
Jadaun's letter on Monday coincided with Modi's visit to Greater Noida in Gautam Buddh Nagar where he inaugurated the World Dairy Summit 2022.
The Arvind Kejriwal government is providing basic civic facilities like electricity, water, education, health, transport to the people of Delhi free of cost or at minimum price, but the entire Gautam Buddh Nagar district, including Noida, is deprived of it, the AAP local leader wrote.
On the lines of Delhi, children of the poor can get good education in a good environment even in government schools. Women can get free of cost bus travel, the elderly could go for pilgrimage for free.
Similarly people won't have to stand in queues at government offices for small jobs like Aadhaar card, ration card, driving license, birth certificates, property registrations, etc, he added.
Jadaun further said that if his demand is met, the people of the district will get the right to choose their representatives of the local corporations just as they do in Delhi.
The people of urban and rural areas here should get the ownership rights of their land, while those living in the so-called illegal colonies should also get ownership and basic facilities like Delhi, he added.
He alleged that corruption by officials of the three local authorities the Noida Authority, the Greater Noida Authority, and the Yamuna Expressway Authority have been a blot on the district's reputation.
Hence, the Aam Aadmi Party demands that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should declare the merger of the entire Gautam Buddh Nagar, including Noida, into Delhi, the AAP's district chief wrote.
Gautam Buddh Nagar, adjoining Delhi in western Uttar Pradesh, was formed in 1997.
Spread in 1,442-sq-km area, it was carved out of portions of Ghaziabad and Bulandshahr districts. The district has three tehsils Sadar (Noida), Dadri, and Jewar.
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Karnataka Assembly passes bill on Palace Grounds amid opposition protest
Bengaluru, Mar 6 (PTI): The Karnataka Assembly on Thursday passed the Bangalore Palace (Utilisation and Regulation of Land) Bill, reaffirming state ownership over 472 acres and 16 guntas of land here, amid protests by the opposition BJP.
During the discussion, Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said the state government would have to provide Rs 200 crore worth of Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) for each acre of land, which means that for 15 acres, Rs 3,000 crore worth of TDR would be issued.
“If we accept it, then this 2-km stretch of road will become the costliest road in the world. If we accept it then how are we going to develop the city in later stages? How will you carry out development works?” asked Patil.
He also pointed out that this question was raised not only under the Congress government but also during the previous BJP regime.
However, the BJP-led cabinet has opposed the project.
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“Suppose we agree to it then, what will be the valuation of the 472 acres? It will be lakhs and lakhs of crores of rupees. Can we accept?” Patil wondered.
The Minister said the government had previously exercised its executive powers to issue an ordinance, which was approved by the Governor. Now the government is bringing a bill with two amendments.
“In this bill, we have made provisions either to develop or drop the road development work,” Patil explained.
However, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra and BJP MLA Arvind Bellad opposed the move, alleging that the government was targetting Yaduveer Krishna Datta Chamaraja Wadiyar, the scion of the Mysuru royal family, and the BJP MP from Mysuru-Kodagu constituency out of political vendetta.
“We talk of 472 acres of Mysuru Maharaja but here there are many Maharajas who too own 400 acres, 500 acres and thousands of acres of land, which is known to everyone,” Bellad said.
He slammed the Congress government, saying political power should not be misused for personal vendetta.
“Why (the then Deputy Chief Minister) Siddaramaiah brought the law in 1996 pertaining to the Bangalore Palace? Why are you setting eyes on the Bangalore Palace?” he asked.
Vijayendra charged that Wadiyar won the election on BJP ticket so the state government realised that it should acquire it.
“This bill has been brought for political vengeance. We are not discussing whether Rs 3,000 crore is exorbitant or not but the moment Yaduveer became MP, the state government woke up. You should be ashamed. This house should not be used for political vendetta,” he said.
Intervening, Minister Priyank Kharge said Vijayendra should not have raised it because the intention behind building the road was noble.
According to him, the BJP too had the same plan when it was in power.
He sought to know whether thousands of crores of rupees be spent on a road which should have cost significantly less.
In response, BJP MLA B A Basavaraj (Byrathi) said issuing TDR will not be a burden on the state government and appealed to the ruling Congress to reconsider its stance.
Minister Ramalinga Reddy too explained that the Karnataka government acquired the entire land way back in 1996.
The Mysuru royal family went to the High Court, which gave ruling in favour of the state government. The royal family then approached the Supreme Court, where the case is still going on, the Minister pointed out.
“The final judgment is pending in the SC to decide whether the acquisition was right or wrong. If the SC says it’s the royal family’s property then let it be so. If the order is in the state government’s favour then we can take a decision. The bill is only about it,” Reddy explained.
Speaker U T Khader then called for a voice vote and the bill was passed by the Assembly amidst opposition BJP’s discontent.
