Gurgaon: Residents of 36 villages to hold meeting on Sunday over Silokhra land row

Silokhra residents are opposed to the allottment of land to the BJP for setting up a party office

The residents of 36 villages of the Silokhra district are meeting on Sunday to demand cancellation of the land allotted to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by the Haryana government. This will be the third meeting in a row in the past one month.

After their second meeting on May 24, the residents of Silokhra had stopped roadwork in the village.(HTFILE)

The protesters are opposed to the allocation of land to the ruling party for setting up a party office.

The residents of Silokhra had held their first meeting on May 14 followed by a second on May 24 after which they stopped construction of a road at village.

The residents had been demanding cancellation of the one-acre plot allotted to the BJP by the Haryana urban development authority (Huda). The Huda acquired 12 acres of village land in 2011 for setting up a party office and also for a proposed group housing project for MPs and MLAs.

Om Prakash, former sarpanch of Silokhra, said, “We will pass a proposal on Sunday to cancel allotment of land for the party office and the group housing project. We will also demand the setting up of a community centre, marriage hall and pond for the village.”

“If the Haryana government does not consider our proposal, we will hold a big protest in the district. We will hold a panchayat of 360 villages later. We want our land back and want it to be developed for villagers only,” said Santram, a resident of Sukhrali, adding that a village pond has been filled illegally and allotted by the Huda for the party office.

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Huda had served land acquisition notice on village panchayat way back in 1989. The panchayat moved the Punjab and Haryana high court and the matter was argued in court till 2008-09 after which the MCG withdrew the notice.

“After the mantle of control of the area passed from the panchayat to the MCG, we had lost all hopes of winning the fight. And our fears came true when the Huda acquired 12 acres in 2011. The land acquired included green fields, pond and a grazing field. These have now been destroyed,” said Mukesh Sharma, another resident.

Huda administrator Yashpal Yadav said, “The allotment happened as per the law.”