Huge police force was also present at the spot. (Representational image)The demolition drive to pull down illegal structures which was to be carried out at Bapu Dham Colony was put on hold Monday due to the intervention of political leaders. Both BJP and Congress claimed credit for getting the drive cancelled.
While Chandigarh Congress workers led by their president Harmohinder Singh Lucky assembled at Bapu Dham Colony along with local residents early Monday morning to protest against demolition of illegal structures, what the residents termed ‘need- based changes’ in their dwelling units, BJP’s city vice-president Devinder Singh Babla also arrived with the party workers.
Huge police force was also present at the spot.
Babla met the UT Adviser and gave a representation that the drive may not be carried out. He claimed that the drive was stopped because of the BJP.
Subscriber Only Stories
However, in a statement issued by the Congress, it was said, “When the Congress leaders along with local residents resisted the drive, they were stopped by the authorities. After having some heated exchanges with the Congress leaders, the drive was put on hold for today at least.”
Ravi Thakur, the Congress candidate in last corporation election, and Mohammad Suleman, president of Block Congress Committee, raised anti-BJP and anti- corporation slogans. The Congress workers also accused the BJP of acting like an agent of demolition in the city, who would target the homes belonging to weaker sections only. The BJP has not formulated a single scheme to rehabilitate the poor in Chandigarh so far, they alleged.
Earlier, the Chandigarh Congress and the residents of Bapu Dham Colony had requested the authorities not to proceed with the demolition as it would cause irreparable harm to the inhabitants.
Chandigarh Congress in a statement issued Sunday had appealed to the authorities to stop the proposed demolition, failing which the party would be forced to adopt all peaceful and constitutional means to protect the interests of the poor people of Bapu Dham Colony.
Criticising the authorities for working at the behest of an anti-poor party like the BJP, Lucky stated that the authorities “have decided to unleash bulldozers on the people of Bapu Dham at a time, when they are already facing hardships due to frequent waterlogging in their locality”.
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
