The Uttar Pradesh (UP) administration on Thursday, 21 April, demolished the ‘illegal’ structure of former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Roshan Lal Verma in Shahjahanpur who had jumped ship to the Samajwadi Party (SP) before the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.
Terming the official action a "conspiracy," Verma said he hopes for justice from Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Meanwhile, local authorities in Banda district served a show-cause notice to former BJP MLA Brajesh Prajapati, who also had switched to the SP, for a multistorey structure, which has allegedly been built without proper sanction.
With the demolitions, it seems that the BJP is targeting deserters who had switched to the SP before the Assembly polls.
Another BJP MLA who had joined the SP before elections, Brijesh Prajapati, has also been served a notice by the Banda Development Authority (BDA) asking him to explain the illegal construction of his house.
Revenue officials on Wednesday also paid a visit to former BJP minister Swami Prasad Maurya, who is now with the SP.
The administration warned Maurya that if he does not vacate and demolish the illegal construction on his own within 15 days, the same will be demolished by the BDA and the minister will have to bear the cost.
Rise in Demolition Drives
This comes a day after an alleged anti-encroachment drive was carried out in Delhi's Jahangirpuri with the razing continuing for an hour even after the Supreme Court ordered its halting.
A similar razing drive was conducted in Madhya Pradesh's Khargone on 11 April where the administration undertook a demolition drive in areas where the communal violence had erupted during a Ram Navami procession. This comes after the state home minister had said that "the houses of those who are pelting stones, will be turned into a pile of stones."
A few days later on 15 April, several shops were demolished by bulldozers in Gujarat's Khambhat, where communal clashes erupted during a Ram Navami procession on 10 April.
"It is a routine exercise. Illegal properties and encroachments were weeded out," officials said as the shops were razed.
(With inputs from IANS.)
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