Delhi demolitions: Kejriwal to chair meet with AAP MLAs tomorrow

The civic bodies have been carrying out demolitions in several parts of Delhi, including Shaheen Bagh, Madanpur Khadar, New Friends Colony, Mangolpuri, Karol Bagh, Khyala, and Lodhi Colony.

Amid the ongoing political slugfest over the anti-encroachment drive by the BJP-ruled municipal corporations in the national capital, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal will chair a meeting with his party MLAs on Monday at 11 am, news agency PTI reported.

Delhi Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

The meeting at the chief minister's residence will witness deliberations on a strategy to counter the BJP on the demolition drive.

The huddle was scheduled to be held on Saturday but was cancelled due to the fire at a multi-storey building in West Delhi's Mundka in which 27 people lost their lives, the agency had reported.

On Friday, Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia had written to union home minister Amit Shah, urging him to stop the 'destruction' in the name of anti-encroachment drive. The deputy chief minister had also slammed the "bulldozer politics" of the BJP and claimed that the civic bodies were planning to raze 63 lakh dwellings in the national capital.

The civic bodies have been carrying out demolitions in several parts of Delhi, including Shaheen Bagh, Madanpur Khadar, New Friends Colony, Mangolpuri, Karol Bagh, Khyala, and Lodhi Colony.

AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan, who blocked the demolition drive in southeast Delhi, was arrested on Thursday along with five others on charges of “rioting and obstructing public servants”. He was granted bail a day later. The SDMC also attempted to remove purported encroachments in the Shaheen Bagh area last week.

AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj accused the BJP of trying to 'uproot' the lives of Delhi residents.

“Corrupt BJP leaders, who have enabled unsanctioned constructions by charging exorbitant bribes, should have their homes demolished first. The AAP demands that MCD elections be held at the earliest so that Delhi residents can choose their desired government to run the body. The subsequently elected MCD must take decisions regarding these demolitions,” Bharadwaj said.

The BJP has hit back, saying that AAP leaders were concerned as the bulldozers were being used to remove 'encroachments by Rohingyas and Bangladeshis' sheltered by Kejriwal's party.

The Delhi Congress leaders also jumped in the bulldozer row and staged a protest near the BJP headquarters on the DDU Marg on Sunday against "demolition" drives."BJP-ruled municipal corporations in Delhi are conducting these drives to demolish houses and shops of poor people, and Congress workers will keep protesting till it is stopped," Parvez Alam, vice-chairman of communications of the Delhi Congress was quoted as saying by PTI.

(With inputs from PTI, ANI)