New Delhi: Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Thursday that the residents of unauthorised colonies in Delhi will soon have ownership rights of their properties as he asserted that the Centre had agreed to a city government proposal in this regard.
Mr Kejriwal’s statement assumes political significance as the unauthorised colonies play a crucial role in the Assembly elections, which are due early next year. These colonies had voted in large numbers in favour of AAP in the last state elections in which it got an electrifying victory by bagging 67 of the 70 Assembly seats.
The CM said that the Centre’s approval on the ownership rights to the residents of the unauthorised colonies will be received “very soon.”
Reacting to Mr Kejriwal’s statement, leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta said that just 70 days ago, on the eve of the Lok Sabha elections, the CM had alleged that the Narendra Modi government was planning to demolish unauthorised colonies in the national capital. Mr Gupta said that the CM had accused BJP of trying to give the land of unauthorised colonies to rich builders.
When asked whether the AAP government was moving closer to the BJP-ruled Centre after the Lok Sabha polls, Mr Kejriwal said that his party never wants to fight with anyone. Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari, however, credited Union housing and urban affairs minister Hardeep Puri for his efforts to provide ownership rights to the residents of unauthorised colonies in Delhi.
Mr Tiwari said the BJP’s Delhi unit with the help of the central government will give a gift to the residents of unauthorised colonies before the Assembly election early next year.
Mr Tiwari accused the Kejriwal government of delaying the work on regularisation of unauthorised colonies in Delhi. “The work on regularisation of unauthorised colonies has been speeded up after a committee headed by the Lt-Governor handed over its report to the housing and urban affairs minister. Now, there is no scope for Kejriwal government to stall it,” Mr Tiwari said.
Delhi urban development minister Satyendar Jain said that according to the Delhi government’s proposal, 1,797 colonies are to be regularised and the cut-off date for registry of properties will be January 1, 2015. He said that the AAP government had started work on giving ownership rights to the residents of unauthorised colonies as soon it came to power.
