Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, May 16: Arvind Kejriwal, the Delhi chief minister, took aim at the BJP on Monday over the civic body’s anti-encroachment effort in the national capital.
“The way BJP is destroying people’s houses and shops in Delhi, it is not right. Bulldozers can run on the shops or houses of 63 lakh people. This will be the biggest destruction of independent India,” he said in a video address.
#WATCH | Delhi has not been expanded in a planned manner. Over 80% of the city is illegal, encroached…Question arises, would 80% of the city be demolished (by BJP-led MCDs)?: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on anti-encroachment drive pic.twitter.com/jKCc9MWyJt
— ANI (@ANI) May 16, 2022
During rallies in Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party administration and the BJP, which controls the city’s civic authority, have been duelling accusations about bulldozers. Demonstrations erupted last week in Shaheen Bagh, which was formerly the epicentre of anti-citizenship law rallies, as the local authority used bulldozers to demolish unlawful structures.
Notably, New Friends Colony, Dwarka, and several other areas saw similar sights in the days that followed.
Meanwhile, Kejriwal reiterated his call for new civic elections in Delhi, claiming that the BJP is afraid to hold them because they know AAP will win this time. Kejriwal further stated that he has ordered all AAP leaders to combat “bulldozer politics” regardless of the consequences.
Earlier, Manish Sisodia, the Deputy Chief Minister, wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday, urging him to stop the “damage” in the name of the anti-encroachment effort. The deputy chief minister also lambasted the BJP’s bulldozer tactics, claiming that city authorities were intending to demolish 63 lakh homes in the national capital.