BJP has done nothing for unauthorised colonies, except insult residents: AAP

New Delhi: The BJP has done nothing for the residents of unauthorised colonies except insult them, Delhi Minister Gopal Rai said on Thursday, after the saffron party alleged that the AAP government was "fooling" the people on the issue.

The labour minister also sought to know from the BJP what it had done to regularise such colonies when it was in power from 1993 to 1998. Rai's remark came after senior BJP leader Vijay Goel, during a protest on Thursday at Jantar Mantar, accused Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of "misleading" the people on regularisation of unauthorised colonies. "It is for the first time in its history that the BJP has held a dharna for the residents of unauthorised colonies. Otherwise, it has only insulted the people of such colonies," Rai said at a press conference at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) office.

"In 1993, the BJP came to power in Delhi and had three chief ministers within the its five-year term. I want to ask what did it do then for the regularisation of unauthorised colonies? Nothing," he said. The BJP should leave the work of unauthorised colonies to the AAP and the Kejriwal government, Rai said, asking the saffron party to do two important tasks -- provide safety and ensure cleanliness in the national capital.

The Delhi Police comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs and mayors of all three municipal corporations in the city are from the BJP. During the protest, which was also attended by Lok Sabha MPs Hans Raj Hans and Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma, Goel attacked the AAP and the Congress, saying, both the parties did nothing to regularise unauthorised colones during their respective tenures. "There are 1,797 unauthorised colonies in Delhi and 7 lakh people are living in them. The Congress was in power for 15 years while the AAP has been in power for five years.They have not done anything for regularisation of unauthorised colonies," Goel said.

When the Centre formed a panel headed by the lieutenant governor to recommend parameters for regularisation of unauthorised colonies and it came out with a report, Kejriwal felt that he could "fool" the people and take credit for the work done by the central government, he said. At the protest, slogans like 'Hamara CM kaisa ho, Vijay Goel jaisa ho' were also raised.

Hans accused Kejriwal of "betraying" Delhiites and not taking any concrete steps for regularisation of such colonies. Earlier this week, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had accused the Delhi government of trying to take credit of regularising these colonies. However, Kejriwal had said that the Centre can take credit, but the AAP dispensation just wants regularisation done so that people living there can get their rights.