BJP leader breaks lock of sealed house in Delhi

MANOJ TIWARI ACCUSED OF PLAYING POLITICAL GAMES WITH THE MOVE

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Delhi chief Manoj Tiwari triggered controversy by breaking the lock of a sealed house in the national capital.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) attacked him for contempt of the Supreme Court’s orders.

Tiwari on Sunday evening broke the lock of a house in Gokulpuri stating that he was protesting against municipal officials’ “pick-and-choose” policy of acting against properties flouting building norms.

“Only one house in the lane was sealed by the authorities in Gokulpuri in northeast Delhi. Why were others spared? This is corruption. Officials are sealing properties according to their whims and fancies. This should stop,” Tiwari told media.

He said there were as many as 5,000 houses in Gokulpuri, but only 200 were served notices.

“I have broken the seal of a house in Gokulpuri and I will not stop here. I will go to every locality where illegal sealing is being done. I will not tolerate any ‘pick and choose’ action. This sealing is facilitating corruption. Municipal officials are indulging in corruption in the name of sealing by the monitoring committee,” Tiwari said.

After the video of the incident surfaced on social media,

Kejriwal yesterday said it was Bharatiya Janata Party’s attempt to misguide voters.

“They seal themselves in the morning and break locks in the evening. Do they think people are fools? After demonetisation and introduction of Goods and Services Tax [GST], the BJP has now ruined Delhi with sealing,” Kejriwal said referring to the ongoing sealing drive by the BJP-ruled municipal corporations in the city.

‘C ontempt of court’

Delhi Congress leader Haroon Yousuf said Tiwari was playing politics.

“Who is Tiwari trying to fool? BJP is in charge of the municipal corporations for 11 years. Had they been so serious about the issue, they would have found a solution by now and prevented the sealing. They are just playing dirty political game,” Yousuf said.

Another Congress leader Mukesh Sharma said BJP had two faces on the issue.

“Tiwari created drama by breaking the lock of the house sealed by the municipal corporation in Gokulpuri. If BJP is serious on the issue, all its Parliamentarians in Delhi should ask for an ordinance against sealing from its government,” Sharma said.

K.J. Rao, member of the SCappointed monitoring committee, said he would apprise the top court of the incident.

“If it has happened, it is clearly a contempt of court, which mandates three months’ imprisonment,” he said.