Land Encroachment Politics: Left and Right Stand On Opposite Spectrum

New Delhi: Soon after the passage of the bill to unify all three of MCD bodies into one, several anti-encroachment drives are being carried out in different parts of the national capital which has brought criticism against the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is said that the South Delhi Municipal Corporation is carrying out the first phase of the demolition drive from May 4 to May 13 in several parts of South Delhi.

An anti-encroachment drive has been undertaken by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) in the Mangolpuri area as of Tuesday. On Monday, a protest erupted at Shaheen Bagh after local municipal authorities reached the spot to carry out the anti-encroachment drive. After much resistance and objection by the localities, the demolition was called off in the area. From 2019 to early 2020, Shaheen Bagh was at the centre of the anti-CAA protest.

Lok Sabha MP and senior BJP leader Parvesh Verma told Hans India, "My party BJP, we have been saying again and again that no encroachment is allowed in Delhi. We will remove any encroachment if it is on government land. So, whatever we are doing, whatever MCD is doing, it is 100 percent according to the law."

To counter-attack the demolition drive being undertaken by the MCD, the local body largely governed by the BJP since the last three tenures, numerous citizens groups and left parties have come together. On Wednesday, hundreds of people participated in a Citizen's March, called by the Left parties, wherein protesters marched from Kashmiri Gate to Lieutenant Governor's Anil Baijal's residence.

In April, violence broke out in the Jahangirpuri area of Delhi during the demolition drive as left leader Brinda Karat reached the spot, along with other political figures and activists, to halt the demolition. The area was already under tension due to eruption of communal unrest in Jahangirpuri on April 18, as an illegal procession was carried out during Hanuman Jayanti.

On May 11, members of civil society and left parties marched towards Lieutenant Governor's house as they held banners and placards and raised slogans against the demolition move undertaken by the MCD bodies. The protestors, however, were stopped by heavy police deployment in the mid-way, before they could reach Anil Baijal's residence. Apart from civil society members from Saheli, Basti Suraksha Manch, Stree Mukti Sanghathan, left parties such as CPI, CPI(M), CPI (ML), AIFB and RSP also took part in the protest march and expressed concern over "rising" communalism.