After Jahangirpuri, BJP to urge East and South Delhi Mayors to remove encroachments

New Delhi, April 21 (IANS) A day after the North Delhi Municipal Corporation rolled out bulldozers in violence hit Jahangirpuri, the Delhi BJP is now planning to request the civic authorities for a similar drive in other parts of the national capital to remove encroachments by Bangladeshis and Rohingyas.

Sources in the Delhi BJP said that a similar encroachment removal drive will be carried out in other parts of the city in the coming days. "We had received the go ahead from the BJP central leadership for the anti-encroachment drive in Jahangirpuri. Now, the other two municipal corporations, East and South, will also be urged to remove encroachments by Bangladeshis and Rohingyas in the coming days," they said.

The anti-encroachment drive by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation was launched in Jahangirpuri following Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta's letter after violence erupted in the area during a Hanuman Jayanti procession. The drive, however, was stopped following a Supreme Court order to maintain the status quo.

Gupta on Thursday said that he would also write to the Mayors of East and South Delhi to conduct similar drives in their areas to bulldoze encroachments by Bangladeshis and Rohingyas. "I am also going to write letters to Mayors of East and South Delhi to remove encroachments and illegal construction by Bangladeshis and Rohingyas living in their jurisdiction," Gupta said.

It is learnt that the drive will be conducted in the areas where the civic bodies feel that there is a huge concentration of Bangladeshis and Rohingyas. Delhi BJP sources said some such areas have been identified and a drive will be conducted soon to clear the encroachments.

The Supreme Court on Thursday extended the status quo order on the demolition drive carried out in Jahangirpuri until further orders. However, BJP Lok Sabha member Manoj Tiwari said that the bulldozers will not stop. "We respect the Supreme Court order. We will follow the stay for 14 days as per the Supreme Court's direction. Bulldozers will roll out once again. I request everyone not to see the encroachments from a religious angle. The drive against rioters and illegal encroachments will go on," Tiwari said.

Gupta also slammed the opposition parties, including the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), saying they were trying to protect the rioters in Jahangirpuri. Gupta alleged that the AAP MLAs and councillors are supporting the Rohingyas and the Bangladeshis in their areas to use them as vote banks.