Kejriwal slams Delhi slum demolitions, BJP calls him protector of Bangladeshis

New Delhi: Politics over slum demolitions in Delhi intensified on Sunday with AAP National Convenor and former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal accusing the ruling BJP of rendering poor people homeless, while the latter justified the action against dwellings of Rohingyas and Bangladeshis who allegedly pose a security threat to others.

The Congress also attacked Kejriwal for shedding crocodile tears for slum dwellers and slammed him for not rehabilitating even a single poor family during his 11-year rule in Delhi.

Addressing a rally of slum dwellers and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers at Jantar Mantar, Kejriwal launched a citywide agitation against demolitions by calling 45 lakh slum dwellers to unite and accused the BJP of unleashing bulldozers on slums within five months of coming to power.

“Before the election, I had warned that the BJP would demolish slums within one year, but they have done so within five months,” he said, accusing the government of forcing residents of demolished slums to live under the open sky in summer heat and forcing their children to stop going to school.

He said the BJP had promised to give houses to those who live in slums. “Even those slums in which their leaders spent nights are not being spared now,” he said, calling slum dwellers as the backbone of the city’s economy.

Kejriwal said if the BJP does not stop demolitions in slums, then the Rekha Gupta government will not last its full five-year term.

He also hit out at the BJP for long power cuts, water shortage, waterlogging and rebranding of ‘Mohalla Clinics’ across the city and warned party supporters that the BJP was planning to withdraw the scheme for free electricity for the poor. He also slammed the BJP government for allowing private schools to raise fees.

Kejriwal also alleged collusion between the Congress and the BJP, claiming the AAP government had not allowed demolition of even a single slum during its tenure, but these parties have a track record of demolishing slums.

Reacting to Kejriwal’s claim, Delhi Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said the BJP government will not let Rohingyas and Bangladeshis, who pose a security threat to other city residents, stay in the country, and their establishments will be demolished.

“Kejriwal wants to settle people who threaten women and girls in the city, but they will not be allowed to stay in the capital. If he is so concerned about Rohingyas and Bangladeshis, he should take them to his home,” Sirsa said.

Delhi Congress President Devender Yadav said Kejriwal has been showing fake sympathy for slum dwellers. “I want to ask him how many out of the 45,000 houses built for the poor under the Congress government were allotted to slum dwellers by the AAP government.”

Kejriwal is shedding “crocodile tears” today but has no explanation for not rehabilitating even a single slum dweller in the past 11 years, said Yadav.

IANS