Railways Filed Affidavit in SC That Slums Along Delhi's Rail Tracks Hindering Centre's Clean Drive: AAP

The AAP on Friday claimed that the railways filed an affidavit in Supreme Court that 48,000 jhuggis’ adjacent to rail tracks were hindering the cleanliness process by the Centre, following which the apex court ordered their demolition. Calling the affidavit “irrefutable evidence” that showed the real wish of the BJP-led Centre, AAP spokesperson Raghav Chadha said it exposed the mentality of the BJP.

The Delhi BJP, however, urged the AAP to stop “daily melodramas” to mislead slum dwellers and instead allot the over 55,000 Rajiv Ratna Yojna vacant flats to them. The Supreme Court had in a recent order directed the removal of about 48,000 ‘jhuggis’ (slums) along the railway tracks in Delhi within three months.

Chadha said the affidavit also mentioned that the Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi was not letting the demolition take place. “Just a few months after the (Delhi) election, on August 18, 2020, in an affidavit in Supreme Court, the BJP said we want to demolish the slums but Arvind Kejriwal does not want to let them break. We are proud of the fact that we have not let them demolish the slums,” he said.

The AAP leader reiterated that the Delhi government will not let the BJP demolish the slum dwellers’ home and ensure that they are rehabilitated properly. “Till the son of Delhi — Arvind Kejriwal — is alive, no slum dweller in Delhi will be displaced,” Chadha asserted.

Hitting back at the charges, Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said the case related to 48,000 jhuggis on railway land in Delhi began way back in 1998. He said it was under the then government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee that the railways gave Rs 11.25 crore to the then Delhi government for rehabilitation of around 1,5000 slums, but the Congress which was in power in Delhi did nothing for the welfare of these people.

“Thereafter, from 2004 to 2014, Congress was in power both at Centre and in Delhi, but they did nothing for rehabilitation of jhuggi dwellers. The party instead allowed the number of slums to mushroom to 48,000 as on date,” Kapoor said in a statement. The BJP spokesman also said that court records are there for all to see that after 2014, the BJP-led central government pressed for their rehabilitation even as the Kejriwal government remained silent in the court and never demanded a rehabilitation package.

“Constitutionally and morally, it is the Delhi government which is bound to give rehabilitation to the slum dwellers. BJP urges Raghav Chadha to stop his daily melodramas to mislead jhuggi dwellers and instead allot the over 55,000 Rajiv Ratna Yojna vacant flats to these 48,000 jhuggi dwellers,” Kapoor added.