A group of leaders from the BJP's Delhi unit on Wednesday met Union Home Minister Amit Shah, on a day the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NMC) carried out an anti-encroachment drive in violence-hit Jahangirpuri which was stopped on a Supreme Court order. Bulldozers tore down several concrete and temporary structures close to a mosque in Jahangirpuri as part of an anti-encroachment drive by the BJP-ruled civic body, days after the northwest Delhi neighbourhood was rocked by communal violence.
The Supreme Court had to intervene twice to stop the drive after it took cognisance of a petition filed by Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind against the demolition. BJP's Delhi unit president Adesh Kumar Gupta, MLA Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, party leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa were among those who met the Home Minister at his office at North Block. However, the BJP leaders were tight-lipped about the issues they discussed with Shah.
Officials said the recent violence at Jahangiripuri and Wednesday's demolition drive might have figured at the meeting. Delhi's three municipal corporations, which have now been merged into one, were ruled by the BJP.
The anti-encroachment drive continued for one-and-a-half hours even after the Supreme Court directed authorities to stop it. The drive continued because of the absence of a written order from the Supreme Court.
It was stopped as soon as the order was received, a civic official said.