Ahead of the BMC polls scheduled in February 2017, there seems to be stiff competition among parties to woo slum voters.
Ahead of the BMC polls scheduled in February 2017, there seems to be stiff competition among parties to woo slum voters. After Congress, the Samajwadi Party (SP) has now condemned BMC’s decision to demolish all slum structures rising above a height of 14 feet.
President of the state SP unit, Abu Azmi, said, “There is a lot of unrest among slum dwellers over BMC’s move to demolish slums above 14 feet. Civic officials should not have allowed these structures to come up in the first place. Instead of taking action against these officials, the civic body is targeting poor slum dwellers”.
After the recent fire incident at Behrampada in which six children were killed, BMC has expedited action against slum structures rising above 14 ft. However, the move was first opposed by Congress which said that the civic body should allow these structures to stay due to rising population in the city.
Opposing BMC’s move, Mr Azmi said, “By demolishing slum structures, BMC is making poor people homeless. But it is dragging its feet on the 51,000 illegal high-rise buildings in the city. Civic officials who have encouraged these structures to come up, should be sent behind bars.”
Meanwhile, in a significant move, SP has become the first party in the city to announce that it will contest BMC polls independently. “We will not make alliance with any party and contest 115 seats alone,” said Mr Azmi.
