With his statement in the Rajya Sabha that “inflow of migrants into Delhi needs to be stopped to solve the problems of the Capital” raising a storm, BJP leader Vijay Goel on Friday clarified that he had been misquoted.
He defended his stance saying what he actually meant was that if all the States were more developed then people would not have to come to Delhi to earn a livelihood.
It was during the debate on the Delhi Budget in the Upper House on Thursday that Mr. Goel had said that “every day more migrants come to Delhi...Most of them are from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. They come here because they don’t have employment opportunities in their States.”
He had gone on to add that “these migrants settle in slums, which later become unauthorised colonies” and suggested that “if we have to solve the problems of Delhi, we need to stop this inflow of migrants.”
The BJP leader had also suggested that branches of Delhi University colleges should be opened in other States to stop the migration of students from there to the Capital. “Students come here every year because there aren’t any good colleges in their States. We can open branches of colleges in other states to stop this inflow,” he was quoted as saying.
This had created a furore with the Opposition terming his statements parochial. Even BJP leader C.P. Thakur commented that “Delhi is for everyone” and he should have thought twice before making the controversial statement.
