The AAP and BJP on Sunday sparred over the removal of slums in Gandhi Nagar with former Deputy Chief Minister and senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia meeting the residents and blaming the latter for sending eviction notices to the families living there. Meanwhile, the Delhi BJP denied the claims.

Union Minister Harsh Malhotra, former Delhi Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely, and MLA Anil Bajpai, in a joint statement, held the Delhi government’s negligence responsible for the eviction orders and strongly condemned Sisodia’s statements, claiming it to be ‘misleading political rhetoric on the matter’.

According to BJP leaders, there is a administrative provision in Delhi state that no notice to vacate slums that are over 20 years old can be issued without prior approval from the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB).  They mentioned that the Gandhi Nagar slum settlement, whose residents have received eviction notices, is over six decades old. “Therefore, it is unlikely that the land-owning agency issued the notice without DUSIB’s approval,” the party claimed.

“Instead of misleading the slum dwellers, Manish Sisodia should clarify why the DUSIB department granted permission to the land-owning agency for the demolition of the slums. If the notice was issued without DUSIB’s consent, it indicates disconnect between the department and the concerned minister,” the party said in a statement.

It added that if the Delhi government truly wishes to protect these slums, the DUSIB minister should call a meeting, and the BJP will fully support it.