Walia maintains stand as BJP demands he quit

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday demanded the resignation of Delhi urban development minister Ashok Kumar Walia for his alleged links with Amritpal Singh Sachdeva, the owner of the building that collapsed on Monday.

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday demanded the resignation of Delhi urban development minister Ashok Kumar Walia for his alleged links with Amritpal Singh Sachdeva, the owner of the building that collapsed on Monday.

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Leader of the opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijay Kumar Malhotra said Walia "must resign" following the allegations by Sachdeva that he had informed the minister about accumulation of water in the building's basement.

"The owner of the building has said that he had informed Walia about the condition of the building. These are serious allegations. Even Walia had admitted that accumulation of water weakened the building, leading to its collapse," Malhotra said.

Walia is also the member of the Legislative Assembly from Lakshmi Nagar segment.

But Walia maintained: "The allegations are far from the truth."

"I have been living in this area for the past 36 years and not once has this person (Sachdeva) approached me. I have never been to his house nor has he been to mine. The residents of my constituency had complained about the water in their basements and I had asked the MCD to help them out. The engineers of the MCD and irrigation and flood control department had even pumped out the water at least twice," Walia said.

"The BJP-ruled MCD has not been able to function properly and is indulging in dirty politics. The building department of the MCD is not working properly."