Lucknow: The BJP government’s flagship drive in Uttar Pradesh against alleged mafia raj and encroachment — using bulldozers to demolish their ‘illegal’ structures — is now facing opposition from within the party ranks.
The demolitions have earlier been criticised by opposition parties, with many naming CM Yogi Adityanath, ‘Bulldozer Baba‘. However, Thursday saw BJP MLA Ketakee Singh taking a stand against such action in her constituency Bansdih.
Informed about a house being bulldozed in Udaha village, Bansdih tehsil, Ballia district, the MLA reached the spot and lashed out at tehsildar Praveen Kumar Singh for trying to demolish the house despite her demand to stop. A video of this incident has since gone viral on social media and WhatsApp.
बुलडोजर की कार्रवाई से भड़की बलिया से बीजेपी विधायक केतकी सिंह, गुस्से में तहसीलदार को पूरी तहसील को आग लगाने की दे डाली धमकी, उनके समर्थक भी धमकाते हुए आए नजर, देखें VIDEO#UttarPradesh #BJP #Bulldozer #YogiAdityanath #Ballia #KetakeeSingh @BJP4UP @KetakeesinghMLA @balliapolice pic.twitter.com/2z3XydPzcO
— Nedrick News (@nedricknews) April 28, 2022
The house had been allegedly illegally constructed on gram sabha land years ago. Faced with demolition, the owners allegedly approached Ketakee Singh and informed her about the developments.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav shared the video of the MLA hitting out the tehsildar on Twitter, and used it to attack the government on the allegedly unequal scale of compensations being offered to those whose properties are being demolished.
“Compensation has become a new way of corruption to benefit BJP people,” wrote Yadav.
विकास कार्यों के नाम पर जिस बेहिसाब दर पर सत्ता से जुड़े लोगों को करोड़ों का मुआवज़ा दिया जा रहा है, वही दर आम आदमी को भी दी जाए व उनको भी जिनके जायज़ निर्माण पर केवल विद्वेषवश बुलडोज़र चलाया गया है।
भाजपाइयों को लाभ पहुँचाने में मुआवज़ा भ्रष्टाचार का नया तरीक़ा बन गया है। pic.twitter.com/z0sTw4xE23
— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) April 28, 2022
However, Ketakee Singh claimed there were directions from CM Yogi Adityanath on demolitions, such as “there should be no bulldozing of any poor person’s house or his livelihood till you have a valid reason”, and even then, “you cannot bulldoze over the house of someone poor.”
The video of the MLA venting her ire has also stirred some controversy, as it shows her and a man accompanying her — identified as Raju Dubey — threatening “to set the tehsil on fire”, in retaliation against the alleged demolition.
Talking to media later, Ketakee Singh claimed that the person was related to the house owner.
“If someone’s house is being bulldozed, he will not shower flower petals. I think you will agree with me. Won’t he feel that his house, his earning for life (has been demolished), what will he do?” she asked.
ThePrint reached the tehsildar, Praveen Kumar Singh, over the phone, but he played down the incident, saying “it was nothing”, before disconnecting the call.
Sources in the village said, however, that tehsil officials were carrying out the demolition based on orders from a magisterial court.
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‘Can’t bulldoze a poor person’s house’
The Bansdih MLA is no stranger to controversy over “misbehaviour”. Ahead of this year’s assembly elections, Ketakee Singh had drawn attention, when she was caught on camera “threatening” and misbehaving with SP workers during a clash between them and BJP workers.
Claiming that the house had been built on government land, Singh said “some complainants (led by Dubey) had come to me”.
“They (owners of the house) claimed that their great-grandfather had constructed the house on a portion of government land owing to ignorance of legalities,” the MLA said. “Now, since our government has been actively tracking all government land, it was found that their house has been built on government land.”
Referring to Thursday’s incident, Singh said, “the house owners were repairing an awning when some officials reached there without any notice. A part of the house has been demolished by the bulldozer”.
Referring to supposed directions from the CM on demolitions, Singh claimed that Yogi Adityanath has “said that there should be no bulldozing of any poor person’s house or his livelihood till you have a valid reason. Even if you do have a valid reason, you cannot bulldoze over the house of someone poor.”
Thursday’s video shows the tehsildar trying to pacify the MLA by saying that only a portion of the house was demolished and the entire house was not bulldozed.
To which Singh replied, “Had you bulldozed the house, then I would not have asked anything, main khud hi aag laga deti tehsil mein (literally, set fire to the tehsil, but also meaning to create a disturbance)”.
The tehsildar again tells her that such a situation would have arisen if her wish was not respected by them, but it was.
In no mood to compromise, Singh then says, “you have already rolled a bulldozer over it and you have still respected my wish? Have you respected my wish?”
Soon after, the man identified as Raju Dubey threatens, “once when the MLA has asked to stop, then tehsil will have to stop. Otherwise, we will set the tehsil on fire. What do you think? Who do you think is an MLA?”
Another person in the video claims that Rs 10,000 was handed over to a lekhpal (accountant) and kanungo (revenue clerk officer) to stop the demolition.
Singh then demands that they be brought to the spot.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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