New Delhi, June 26: Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit, who has been campaigning for stoppage of demolition of slum clusters, today hailed the Election Commission order to halt all demolitions and evictions in five states, including Delhi, going to polls later this year and said it will prevent BJP from playing "politically-motivated games". Dikshit termed the EC decision as "vindication" of her government's stand on the issue of demolition, relocation and rehabilitation of slums in the National Capital.

"The EC decision is indeed in the interest of free and fair polls and to maintain the fidelity of electoral rolls so that elections could be held without any hitches and the citizens were not deprived of their right to vote," she said.

The Chief Minister emphasised that with the decision in place, "The BJP will not be able to play politically motivated games of shifting voters with the help of Central-Government controlled Delhi Development Authority (DDA) according to their suitability."

The city Congress government, which sees a vote-bank in the slum dwellers, has been at loggerheads with DDA and the Central BJP-led government recently over the issue of demolitions after some jhuggies were demolished with an aim of "relocating" these at other places.

At least twice, the chief minister and her ministerial colleagues had to intervene personally to stop demolitions by staging a sit-in in west Delhi's Kirti Nagar, which interestingly falls under the Lok Sabha constituency of Delhi BJP chief Madan Lal Khurana.


Bureau Report