Rahul Gandhi also visited the demolition site in Shakur Basti and met the families whose homes were destroyed.
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In his rebuttal, Kejriwal said, “Rahul is still a kid and maybe no one from his party has informed him that the Railway belongs to the central government and not the state”.
“If any land is required for whichever railways projects, they should give us a schedule and the Delhi government will fist rehabilitate the slum dwellers before demolition”, the CM added.
Meanwhile, AAP and TMC MPs staged a protest outside Parliament over the demolition of Shakur Basti.
Defending Gandhi for his comments, Dixit said, “Rahul ji has his heart with these poor people”.
“Delhi government should have arranged for the rehabilitation of the evicted ones through its Slum Board. Principal Secretary (Urban Development), Government of NCT of Delhi had convened two meetings on this issue on October 13 and November 9, 2015 to sort out the matter but it seems there are certain issues still to be decided at the Railway Board/Ministry level”, Kejriwal said in the letter.
Though the Railways maintained that the toddler died two hours before the demolition drive began along the train tracks at Shakur Basti, the parents of the child blamed the authorities for creating a situation leading to her death.
Terming the incident as inhuman, Delhi Minister Satyendra Jain alleged the demolition was carried out “to teach a lesson” to these people who had voted for Arvind Kejriwal.
“Why they (AAP) are protesting?” Gandhi then slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government and Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP government.
Giving details of the drive, Prabhu said, “The soft encroachments adjoining the cement siding Shakur Basti Railway station area were removed on December 2015 in presence of Delhi Police personnel by Delhi divison of Northern Railway”. We will fight for you and won’t let this gross injustice happen to you.
The plea said that the “demolition is in violation of the Master Plan Delhi 2021…”.
Another AAP leader, Ashutosh, said Mr Gandhi’s comments show why the Congress was routed in the national election previous year.
Kejriwal promptly hit back, saying Gandhi was a “kid” who did not know that the railways which carried out the razing was controlled by the central, not Delhi, government. An infant died in controversial circumstances during the drive.
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Prabhu told the Lok Sabha: “Despite repeated notices, the encroachers did not vacate the place”.
