Delhi BJP claims credit, says AAP government caused delay

NEW DELHI: The Delhi BJP on Thursday applauded the union housing and urban affairs minister, Hardeep Puri, for his “efforts” to provide ownership rights to residents of unauthorised colonies in Delhi. Delhi unit chief Manoj Tiwari said Delhi BJP with the help of the Centre will give a gift to residents of unauthorised colonies before the assembly elections early next year.
“The work on regularisation of unauthorised colonies has been speeded up after a committee headed by lieutenant governor Anil Baijal handed over its report to the housing and urban affairs minister.Now, there is no scope for the Kejriwal government to stall it,” said Tiwari, adding that the AAP government had delayed regularisation.
Tiwari also slammed the previous Congress governments led by Sheila Dikshit for allegedly misleading people by distributing provisional certificates of regularisation in 2008 which had little legal value. “Being in power at the Centre continuously for 10 years and in Delhi for 15 years, the Congress used the people of unauthorised colonies as a vote bank and betrayed their trust,” he said.
The leader of the opposition in the Delhi assembly, Vijender Gupta, slammed chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. “As the Modi government is finalising the process of regularising unauthorized colonies, the chief minister has made a sudden U turn and is thanking it,” he said. “During the recent Lok Sabha elections, Kejriwal had accused the Narendra Modi government of planning to demolish the unauthorised colonies and render its inhabitants homeless by handing over the land to builders.”
Tiwari claimed that the Union urban development ministry had sought a report from the Delhi government in 2015 on regularisation but the AAP government sought two years’ time. “When the UD ministry enquired a few years later, the Delhi government sought more time. It was then that the Centre formed the committee under the L-G to recommend measures for regularizing these colonies, ” he claimed.