Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has called a meeting at the CM House on 14 May to discuss the 'bulldozer action' in different areas of the national capital, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said on Friday, 13 May. All the MLAs of the party will be present at the meeting.
Meanwhile, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi initiated anti-encroachment drives in various parts of the national capital on Friday, including a civic stadium at Mangolpuri, which had been illegally occupied by a few people who had also "brought in cattle inside its premises," a senior official said.
The MCD also conducted anti-encroachment drives on Khayala Road in the Vishnu Garden area, in Samaypur Badli, and Prem Nagar in Karol Bagh zone, where action was taken earlier as well, officials said.
Meanwhile, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Friday said that the BJP planned to demolish the homes of 70 percent of the city's population. Sisodia said that he had written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, urging him to stop the recent spate of demolitions in the national capital as part of the anti-encroachment drives of the BJP-ruled civic body.
AAP MLA Arrested on Thursday
Demolition drives were conducted by the SDMC on Thursday in several parts of Delhi, including the city's Khala area, Madanpur Khadar, and KN Katju Road.
Meanwhile, AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan was arrested for protesting against an anti-encroachment drive being conducted in South Delhi's Madanpur Khadar area on Thursday. Several shops in the Okhla constituency, from where he was elected, remained shut on Friday to mark their protest against the police action.
Khan, who had intervened in South Delhi Municipal Corporation's anti-encroachment drive, was arrested along with five others on Thursday for "rioting and obstructing public servants in discharge of duty," as per the Delhi police.
He had also participated in protests over a demolition drive scheduled for 9 May at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh.
Demolition Drives in Delhi
Demolition drives were also conducted on Wednesday, 11 May, in Dwarka, Lodhi Road, Najafgarh, Janakpuri, and Chaukhandi, among other areas.
This comes after a demolition drive scheduled for 9 May at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh was prevented after protests broke out in the area. Shaheen Bagh was the epicentre of anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) protests in 2019-20.
A day after the ruckus in Shaheen Bagh, a drive was conducted at the New Friends Colony (NFC) and Mongolpuri areas against alleged illegal encroachments.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)