AAP: Bill to regularise illegal colonies brought to woo voters

New Delhi : The AAP on Thursday questioned BJP's motive behind introducing a bill to regularise unauthorised colonies in Delhi ahead of assembly elections due early next year and alleged that the proposed legislation was brought with the "ill-intention" of wooing people living in such areas.

Giving the slogan - 'Jhase mein nahi aayenge Kejriwal ko jeetayenge' (Will not come tricked, will make Kejriwal win), AAP spokesperson Raghav Chadha questioned the BJP's intentions on bringing the bill just before the assembly elections. "The Centre was sitting on the bill for the past four years even when we completed all formalities from our side (Delhi government) years ago and woke up right before the polls," he told reporters.

Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri said in Lok Sabha that the process of digital mapping of 1,731 unauthorised colonies of Delhi will be completed by December 31 this year. Moving the bill to grant ownership rights to residents of Delhi's unauthorised colonies for consideration, Puri said the process to map these colonies digitally should have started in 2008.

He said though the process was initiated now, he is confident that it will be completed by December 31 and images would be uploaded on a newly-created portal. Over 600 colonies have been digitally mapped so far, he said. He said digital mapping was an important process before ownership rights can be granted to those living in such dwellings.