Three Congress Ministers on Tuesday accused BJP chief ministerial candidate Harsh Vardhan of “doing a U-turn” on his stance on the city’s unauthorised colonies.
They expressed surprise at Dr. Vardhan raising “concerns over the unsatisfactory condition” of the colonies after being named for the top post.
Delhi Urban Development Minister Arvinder Singh said Dr. Vardhan had always been a fierce opponent of regularising unauthorised colonies and villages. Citing a media report from April 2002, Mr. Singh said: “Dr. Harsh Vardhan has criticised the Congress Government on its decision to regularise all unauthorised colonies, stating that it will burden the government and will eventually lead to losing control over these areas”.
He added that most BJP MLAs had expressed their unwillingness to get developmental works executed by the party-ruled municipal corporations in urbanised villages that fall under their constituencies.
Producing a letter written to him by Dr. Vardhan, Mr. Singh said: “He strived hard to get a no objection certificate from the MCDs to get development works executed by the Irrigation and Flood Control Department of the Delhi Government in the Ghondli village of the Krishna Nagar constituency”.
Responding to Dr. Vardhan’s allegations about the redevelopment of Connaught Place, Power Minister Haroon Yusuf said the process takes time as it is carried out with due care and caution. He pointed to lapses by the MCDs that are controlled by the BJP and asked Dr. Vardhan to explain the delay in executing the Rani Jhansi flyover.
Meanwhile, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson Jitender Kochar alleged that a recruitment scam was taking place in the South Corporation, wherein safai karamcharis were being recruited without completion of the required process.
