In a pre-dawn crackdown that exposed the BJP’s anti-poor agenda, bulldozers rolled into Bhoomiheen Camp in Delhi’s Kalkaji Assembly constituency at 5 AM on Wednesday—accompanied by a heavy police force—and began demolishing hundreds of jhuggis, leaving families to watch helplessly as their homes were razed before their eyes.
Hours before a scheduled court hearing at 11 AM, the BJP government defied its own Chief Minister Rekha Gupta’s promise of “not a single jhuggi will be touched” and unleashed brutality on Delhi’s most vulnerable. Visiting the site, local MLA and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Atishi slammed the BJP for betraying the poor and called the demolition a deliberate assault on the marginalized.
Senior AAP leader and Delhi Assembly LoP, Atishi, stated that BJP is an “anti-poor party” after the brutal demolition of the Bhoomiheen Camp in Delhi. Highlighting the BJP government’s hypocrisy, she stated, “Just three days ago, Delhi CM Rekha Gupta had claimed that not a single jhuggi would be demolished and no poor person’s home would be touched. Yet, under the cover of heavy police presence, the entire Bhoomiheen Camp was razed to the ground—displacing thousands of people and leaving them homeless on the streets.”
Atishi questioned the BJP’s justification for the demolition, pointing out that CM Rekha Gupta is hiding behind the excuse of court orders. “But it is the BJP’s DDA and Delhi Government that went to court and sought this very order,” she said.
She further exposed how the BJP-led Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Delhi Government, and Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) actively opposed the poor in court. “When the jhuggi residents approached the court, these very institutions stood against them and submitted that no houses would be allotted to the poor and their jhuggis should be demolished,” Atishi revealed. “It is absolutely clear that BJP is an anti-poor party,” she added.
Atishi noted that a court hearing on the matter was scheduled for 11 AM on Wednesday, yet the demolitions were carried out before the hearing could take place—raising serious questions about the BJP’s intent and legal ethics.
She stated that in just 100 days of BJP’s rule, it has consistently taken steps against the interests of the poor: electricity tariffs have increased, private school fees have gone up, homes of the underprivileged are being torn down, and a hike in water prices is also on the way. “Every move by the BJP has targeted the poor,” Atishi said.
She posed a question: “Does the BJP want to drive out people living in jhuggis—those from UP, Bihar, and Purvanchal—from Delhi?” Atishi said the BJP’s actions make it clear that it wants to purge Delhi of its poor. “Wherever poor people live, the BJP is tearing down their homes and pushing them out of the city, back to UP and Bihar.”
Atishi called out the BJP’s rank hypocrisy: “On one hand, BJP is preparing to ask for votes in Bihar, and on the other, it is demolishing the homes of UP-Bihar residents in Delhi and forcing them onto the streets.”