Lucknow, Nov 21 (PTI) Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav on Friday alleged that the ongoing demolition in Varanasi’s historic Dal Mandi area is a “political demolition” carried out by the BJP government to weaken its opponents, and demanded that the exercise be stopped immediately.
Addressing a press conference here, Yadav, flanked by party leaders from Chandauli and Varanasi as well as several traders from Dal Mandi, said the government’s claim of heritage enhancement was “misleading” and that the widening drive was aimed at targeting a market that “does not vote for the BJP”.
“This is not a heritage plan, this is a political demolition. They are doing this because they cannot win in that area. They want to scare people, divide communities, and use state power to silence traders,” Yadav alleged.
He said many traders, some of whom accompanied him at the press conference, have run small shops for generations and now fear complete loss of livelihood.
Yadav pointed out that several businesses in the Dal Mandi are decades old, “some even older than the institutions that now approve building maps”.
Yadav said that instead of preserving cultural markets as done in major tourist cities worldwide, the Uttar Pradesh government is “destroying” them.
“In many countries, even narrow heritage lanes are protected, not demolished. Here, traders are being uprooted without any alternative that safeguards their customers or livelihoods,” the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said.
He criticised the proposal of relocating shopkeepers to areas like Lohata or Mohansarai, saying these locations lack footfall.
At the press conference, several traders, identifying themselves as Rahul Arora, Bhale Yadav, Sajid and Nilofer Bano, narrated concerns about coercive acquisition, fear of displacement, lack of compensation, and threats allegedly made by officials. They all appealed to the government to withdraw the road widening project and safeguard their livelihoods.
Yadav also accused the BJP of halting previous development initiatives in Varanasi. He claimed that had the SP been in power, metro work in the Prime Minister’s constituency would have progressed, preventing such large-scale demolitions.
“They stopped river-cleaning work on the Varuna, they halted traffic planning, and now they are destroying markets. This is narrow-minded politics,” he said.
He further alleged misuse of state machinery. “What right do they have to snatch someone’s livelihood? Officials are being used to intimidate citizens. But a day will come when accountability will be fixed, just like the Supreme Court did in the Maharajganj demolition case,” he added.
Yadav asserted that the SP is ready to take on the BJP politically.
“We are prepared. People will deliver a verdict through votes against those who are demolishing shops and harming livelihoods,” he said.
When asked about similar demolitions in Meerut, he quipped that those were a “return gift” to the BJP’s own workers.
On allegations involving corruption in land registrations around religious sites in the state, Yadav remarked, “This is the most corrupt government so far. Most corrupt!” Traders from Dal Mandi reiterated their plea to the government to stop the drive, saying the market is a heritage area and that displacement would push their families into crisis.
Dal Mandi, one of Varanasi’s oldest and busiest traditional markets, is currently facing large-scale demolition under a road-widening plan near the Kashi Vishwanath corridor, prompting protests from local traders and political opposition. PTI KIS APL APL
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