BJP threatened Kalyanpuri shopkeepers saying if you don’t pay 20 lac rupees we’ll get your shops bulldozed: Durgesh Pathak
The Market Association has filed a complaint to the Delhi Police that after refusing to pay the ransom, the BJP got bulldozers run over about 8 shops: Durgesh Pathak
As soon as I got information about the matter, I reached the spot after which the bulldozer went back: Kuldeep Kumar
Kalyanpuri market is full of small traders, BJP is trying to snatch their livelihood by extorting them: Kuldeep Kumar
BJP has threatened all the shopkeepers to collect money till they come back : Kuldeep Kumar
BJP’s hooliganism will not sustain in Delhi, Aam Aadmi Party stands with the people: Kuldeep Kumar
NEW DELHI:
The Aam Aadmi Party launched a staggering attack on the BJP after its people barged into 200 shops in Kalyanpuri to demand 10 thousand rupees as monthly bribe from innocent shopkeepers. AAP Senior Leader and MCD in-charge Shri Durgesh Pathak said, “BJP threatened Kalyanpuri shopkeepers saying if you don’t pay 20 lac rupees we’ll get your shops bulldozed. The Market Association has filed a complaint to the Delhi Police that after refusing to pay the ransom, the BJP got bulldozers to run over about 8 shops”. MLA Shri Kuldeep Kumar said, “As soon as I got information about the matter, I reached the spot after which the bulldozer went back. Kalyanpuri market is full of small traders, BJP is trying to snatch their livelihood by extorting them. BJP has threatened all the shopkeepers to collect money till they come back. BJP’s hooliganism will not sustain in Delhi, Aam Aadmi Party stands with the people.”
AAP Senior Leader and MCD In-charge Shri Durgesh Pathak said, “In the past several days, the BJP and its workers have been roaming around Delhi, going door to door, to shops and restaurants, and proceed to point out minor structural hiccups in their property. They cite issues with a roof extension, a staircase, shutter size, and so on; and then demand money threatening them with demolition if they do not comply. The Aam Aadmi Party is standing with the people of Delhi that the BJP is going about recklessly bullying and terrorising. Deputy CM Shri Manish Sisodia also issued a formal letter to all AAP MLAs to come to the forefront to support the Delhi public against BJP’s intimidation and extortion threats. The BJP has, in return, asked us for proof of their misdeeds, completely denying the actions that every corner of Delhi has reported. Hence, today we have brought the proof of BJP’s hooliganism as demanded by them; we have evidence of how the BJP is pressurising the people of Delhi with extortion and demolition threats.”
He added, “There are around 200 shops in the Kalyanpuri Market area of Delhi, where the BJP ordered bulldozing of around 7-8 shops yesterday. Their councillors and leaders had been attempting to extort money from these shopkeepers for the past few days. But when the market association refused to give in to BJP’s intimidation, this infamous party of goons resorted to wreaking havoc on innocent shopkeepers and their establishments, and tore down eight shops in the locality, reducing them to ruins. The entire market association has duly registered a complaint with the police in which it has specified how the BJP-led MCD councillors and workers are going around shops demanding a monthly sum of Rs 10,000 each from all 200 shops in the market, keeping a target of Rs 20 lacs to be sent to the BJP Headquarters from Kalyanpuri market on a monthly basis. And if this target is not met by the shopkeepers, the entire market will be torn down and BJP’s bulldozer justice will be served. This is the state of hooliganism that the BJP has fallen to.”
Shri Durgesh Pathak further said, “This is not merely an allegation by a political opposition, but a written and certified complaint against the BJP’s tyranny submitted by the Market Association itself along with the names and numbers of those in charge. This complaint was filed yesterday, and submitted to the police this morning. We sincerely hope that the police take immediate and strict action against BJP’s misgovernance and corruption. This is the plight of every single market throughout Delhi, be it Lajpat Nagar, Rohini Market, or Sarojini Nagar – shopkeepers and owners in all corners of the state are being bullied into extortion. The BJP goons are ransacking the entire Capital, and terrorising innocent Delhi residents just to fill their own pockets.”
Elaborating on the Kalyanpuri incident, AAP Leader and MLA from Kondli Shri Kuldeep Kumar said, “BJP’s Gunda Raj and its addiction to bribery and corruption is terrorising people all over Delhi. Yesterday, this incident took place in my own Vidhan Sabha, in the Kalyanpuri ward, at around 3 PM, where a certain BJP worker had been troubling the shopkeepers in the market for the past 15-20 days to a month, demanding Rs 10,000 from each stall. The Kalyanpuri market is lined with these stalls, the shopkeepers and owners of which are poor people who cannot afford to pay the exorbitant sum demanded by the BJP as they need to run their households and support families on the already meagre income they make. When these shopkeepers did not pay up, they were fined further. When that did not work in BJP’s favour, they sent goons threatening the shops with demolition, which also failed to accomplish the extortion target. As a result, the BJP eventually bulldozed shops which had been running in the market for over three decades, thereby running over the hopes and dreams of poor shopkeepers.”
He continued, “This is the level of hooliganism and vandalism that the BJP has resorted to. Many BJP leaders and workers were present at the site when this incident took place, who were giving directions to the operator about where to run the bulldozer. They were even pointing out shops who gave in to their extortion threats versus the ones that did not in order to ensure a brutal punishment for the latter. Hence, today the looming atmosphere of terror and intimidation which has engulfed all of Delhi is a result of BJP’s undying need to fill its pockets even in its last few days in the MCD. To meet its own material ends, the BJP is torturing and pressurising people, damaging their livelihoods and families, and leaving behind a plundered state in its wake. If the BJP continues this kind of hooliganism and vandalism, the Aam Aadmi Party will challenge them at every front, on every turn. When yesterday’s matter was brought to my notice, I immediately took my team and reached the market to protest against the demolition, following which the bulldozer was forced to retreat after damaging some 10-15 shops. The BJP leaders left with a warning of coming back with a greater force to tear down the rest of the shops unless the demanded sum is handed over.”
He concluded, “These are the extremes that the BJP is going to in order to trouble innocent shopkeepers and owners, as well as the rest of the common public – citing petty structural shortcomings, all for the purpose of making money. If the BJP continues to make an excuse out of these minor property extensions/issues to extort money this way, they will demand some amount or the other from every single house/shop/restaurant in Delhi, and their loot will know no bounds. The Aam Aadmi Party deeply condemns these actions of the BJP, and we will not let the BJP terrorise and plunder Delhi residents any further.”