‘Jahan jhuggi, wahan maidan’: Arvind Kejriwal targets PM Modi at Jantar Mantar protest against demolitions

More than 40 lakh people in Delhi live in jhuggis, said the AAP chief, as he urged slum dwellers to take to the streets against the BJP government: “Stand together… no one can touch your jhuggis. And never trust PM Modi’s so-called guarantees again. Just like counterfeit products in the market, his guarantees are hollow and full of lies.”

Hitting back, Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva accused Kejriwal of shedding crocodile tears. “Kejriwal is a two-faced leader who, in the name of poor slum residents, is shedding crocodile tears today. But during the Covid pandemic, instead of protecting these same slum dwellers, he drove them out to villages,” he said in a statement.

At the protest were the Capital’s urban poor — some whose homes had been demolished, others facing the threat, and many more living in fear.

Lakshmi, who lived near Novelty Cinema in Chandni Chowk, said, “They (authorities) gave us a notice with no stamp or signature and asked us to vacate our house within two hours… A lot of our belongings were crushed under the rubble.”

Some people came with eviction notices in hand. Mohammad Shahid travelled from Kamla Nehru Camp in West Delhi’s Kirti Nagar. “We got a notice recently — that’s why I’m here. Our jhuggi is near the old petrol pump, and we don’t know what day they’ll come.”
Harsh from Northwest Delhi’s Wazirpur echoed the fear. The demolition in his area, led by Indian Railways, had been temporarily halted after residents protested. “They’ll come back. We’re trying to resist in whatever way we can.”

Kejriwal continued to attack the BJP. “It’s only been five months since they formed the government, and already the situation in Delhi has deteriorated so badly that people have had to gather here today,” he said.

Referring to a video he had released before the elections, Kejriwal claimed he had warned of mass evictions. “I had said they would demolish jhuggis within a year if they came to power — I didn’t think they would do it in just five months,” he said, adding, “This is the same Jantar Mantar where the Congress was removed from power. If you (BJP) don’t stop now, your government won’t last more than three years.”

Comparing the BJP to the Congress, he said, “Both the BJP and Congress are anti-poor. These are parties of the rich, and they come to power to make money. Only AAP has worked for the poor.”

Reacting to the claims, Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav accused Kejriwal of building a “sheesh mahal (glass palace)” at the cost of slum dwellers.

Delhi AAP chief Saurabh Bharadwaj also took to the stage, and responded to recent remarks by BJP leaders that many of those displaced in demolitions were “Bangladeshis and Rohingya”. Turning to the crowd, he asked, “Are you Bangladeshis? Are you Rohingya?” A “No!” came back in response from the crowd.

Former minister Gopal Rai echoed the sentiment. “Even before the BJP came to power, Kejriwal had warned what their bulldozers would do. And now, they are not just breaking homes — they are questioning your very identity.”

Rai also referred to the BJP’s housing promise. “You said jahan jhuggi, wahan makaan — then give the homes first. We’ll remove the jhuggis ourselves,” he said.