Delhi slum demolitions: Kejriwal slams BJP, urges dwellers to unite

New Delhi: Politics over slum demolitions in Delhi intensified on Sunday with Aam Aadmi Party National Convenor and former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal accusing the ruling BJP of rendering poor people homeless, IANS reported.

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 the 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 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.

Meanwhile, the BJP administration there maintained that the demolitions were intended against Bangladeshis and Rohingyas.