FOR FAVOUR OF PUBLICATION

NEW DELHI, Feb. 12—Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) president Shri Jai Prakash Agarwal, MP said the BJP-ruled Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was trying to mislead the people on the issue of sealing and demolition drive as despite the order of the Union Urban Development Ministry, the MCD was not taking any interest in de-sealing of the premises.

Shri Agarwal said the MCD should have issued the necessary order, after the Union Ministry's direction, that the citizens could de-seal the sealed premises themselves and resume their functioning as before. Shri Agarwal, while addressing a massive demonstration against the BJP at the Laxmi Nagar Chungi (Chowk) in East Delhi today, said the MCD's only aim was to act against the interests of the people, instead of protecting them.

Over 5000 Congress workers and leaders from East Delhi assembled at the Laxmi Nagar Chungi, and they raised slogans against the BJP., like “bhrastachari BJP hai hai,” “thod-phod or sealing ki jamedar BJP-ruled MCD”. Besides Shri Jaiprakash Agarwal, others who addressed the demonstrators were Shri Sandeep Dikshit, MP, district president and MLA
Amrish Gautam, Opposition Congress leader in the MCD Shri Jai Kishan Sharma, DPCC general secretary and district in-charge Dr Naresh Kumar, MLAs Dr Narendra Nath, Naseeb Singh and Bhrampal, DPCC office-bearers Shri Deepak Gothi, Raj Kumar Kohli, Dhirender Tyagi, Jaiveer Nagar, S.K. Puri, Municipal Councillors Anil Choudhary, Sohan Lal, Savita Sharma, Saranjeet Sharma and block president Shri Ram Prasad, Abdul Rashid, Jagmal Sharma, Jasbir Saini, Yogesh Kaushik, Sunil Kumar Gupta, Sanjay Chauhan, Vijay Tyagi, Harish Chand and Suman Nayyer.

Shri Agarwal said the BJP had gone astray from its path and was indulging in anti-people activities. He said the BJP Councillors were busy in corruption and violence against employees and even the teaching staff had not been spared from their violent methods. He said the BJP Central leadership was doing nothing to discipline their errant and corrupt Councillors as the communal outfit was yet to understand that the job of the Municipal Councillors was to serve the people and not for fleecing them.

Shri Agarwal said while on the one hand the BJP leadership was threatening to fill the jail on the sealing and demolition drive issue, while on the other hand the ruling BJP in the MCD was taking no step to implement the order of the Union Urban Development Ministry to de-seal all the sealed properties for the people to resume their normal businesses as previously.

Shri Agarwal said the BJP was afraid to de-seal the sealed premises as it feared that the credit would go to the Congress party for the Union Ministry's order. He said the BJP was only interested in cashing in on the misery of the people with an eye on the vote bank. He said if one BJP leader of the MCD would say they would ask the monitoring committee about the de-sealing process while Vijay Goyal and his supporters agitated against the monitoring committee. He said the people of Delhi would give a befitting reply to the BJP in the coming Assembly election for betraying their interest and the Congress Party, under the dynamic leadership of Congress president Smt. Sonia Gandhi, would retain power in Delhi .

East Delhi MP Shri Sandeep Dikshit said that before the MCD elections, the BJP used to brag that it would not allow the sealing and demolition drive to carry on while after coming to power, it changed the tune, saying that the sealing and demolition drives were being carried out at the direction of the court, which showed how contradictory was their stance on this vital issue. He said the MCD should immediately take steps to de-seal the people's property else the people of Delhi would teach them an unforgettable lesson. Shri Dikshit said the BJP, after coming to power in the MCD, stopped the pension of the old, poor widows and the poor, and they would have to pay a heavy price for this inhuman act. He said the people would teach the BJP a befitting lesson for keeping the people confused and in the dark about the sealing and demolition drive.

Opposition Congress Leader in the MCD Shri Jai Kishan Sharma said the ten-month rule of the BJP in the MCD was full of corruption and inefficiency and he held the BJP responsible for the sealing and demolition drive in Delhi . He said had the BJP Government of 1999 implemented the 2001 Master Plan in Delhi , the Capital would not have witnessed any sealing and demolition drive. He said if the people of Delhi were driven into untold hardship and problems, it was due to the wrong policies of the BJP Government in 1999.

PRAMOD KUMAR
Office Secretary

The Chief Reporter

New Delhi.