In a fierce escalation of its campaign to defend Delhi’s jhuggi residents, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders—including Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh and Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj—reached Madrasi Camp on Sunday to stand with families facing forced eviction. As bulldozers raze homes promised legal protection, Sanjay Singh fired off a letter to PM Narendra Modi, calling out the BJP for betraying the “Jahan Jhuggi, Wahan Makaan” pledge.
The AAP MP slammed the BJP for distributing cards to jhuggi residents only to now demolish their homes, and called on the community to rise against the betrayal. With PM Modi set to address a rally in Bihar, AAP has announced it will protest in Patna the same day—warning that the BJP, driving people from Purvanchal out of Delhi, will be driven out of Bihar by its own people.
While visiting Madrasi Camp, Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh condemned the BJP’s bulldozer politics and attacks on the poor. “On Saturday, we went to Wazirpur and saw how bulldozers sent by the BJP had crushed and destroyed the homes of people from Purvanchal, including those from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar,” he said.
Sanjay Singh continued, “The same fate has now befallen Madrasi Camp. From Bihar to Madras, poor people who live in Delhi and earn their livelihoods through labour and street vending have become a thorn in the BJP’s side. The BJP wants to eliminate them—destroying their homes, shops, workplaces, and everything they own.”
Speaking about the extent of destruction, Sanjay Singh said, “People have been living in Madrasi Camp for 50 years, yet the BJP razed the entire settlement with bulldozers. There was not an ounce of compassion in their hearts. These are the same people to whom the BJP gave ‘Jahan Jhuggi, Wahan Makaan’ cards. Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself had guaranteed that wherever there is a jhuggi, the government will build a permanent house there. PM Modi must now deliver on that promise. We demand that houses be constructed on-site for all those displaced from Madrasi Camp and that proper compensation be given to those whose homes were demolished.”
Announcing the next steps, the AAP MP said, “The Parliament session begins on 21 July. The opposition will raise the issue of jhuggi demolitions with full force inside Parliament. AAP MPs, along with MPs from other opposition parties, will voice the concerns of the jhuggi dwellers.”
“Leaders like Saurabh Bharadwaj, Sanjeev Jha, Akhilesh Pati Tripathi, Praveen, Sarika Chaudhary, and the entire Aam Aadmi Party have been fighting for the rights of slum dwellers from day one. All jhuggi residents must now unite. Arvind Kejriwal had warned before the elections that if the BJP came to power—even by mistake—they would demolish the homes of the poor. And that is exactly what they are doing,” he asserted.
Taking aim at the BJP’s intentions, Sanjay Singh stated, “We will fight this battle both on the streets and in Parliament. We will expose the BJP’s anti-poor face. We will fight for the rights and dignity of jhuggi dwellers. The BJP has even demolished their temples and homes. Many of the women here earn a living through manual labour. Many run street carts. Everything they had has been destroyed. The BJP is doing this to hand over this land to its friends—big corporate industrialists—by taking bribes and striking corrupt deals worth crores. This is the real reason behind evictions and demolitions.”
Addressing the political fallout, Sanjay Singh warned, “They will have to answer for this in Bihar too. We will stage protests in Patna and raise a single slogan—those who drove Biharis out of Delhi will themselves be driven out of Bihar by the Bihari people. AAP will sit with our Bihari brothers and expose how the BJP has systematically oppressed them in Delhi. If the BJP thinks it can bulldoze the poor at will, it is gravely mistaken. We are not going to let them get away with this.”
Adding his voice to the protest, AAP Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj condemned the ongoing demolition drive across the city. “Since the BJP came to power in Delhi, there have been daily reports of bulldozers razing settlements. Across the city, poor communities are being uprooted,” he said.
Saurabh Bharadwaj continued, “In Wazirpur Camp too, bulldozers rendered people homeless. Madrasi Camp is 70 years old—people have lived here since the time of our grandfathers. Yet, the BJP destroyed these homes without any mercy. Before the elections, the BJP made grand promises to these residents. Their candidate Tarvinder Singh Marwah distributed cards worth Rs 2,100 and Rs 21,000, promising every jhuggi resident a permanent home via ‘Jahan Jhuggi, Wahan Makaan’. But after winning, no BJP leader returned to these communities. The BJP betrayed the downtrodden.”
Highlighting the humanitarian crisis, the senior AAP leader added, “When these demolitions were carried out, there was not even drinking water made available for the displaced. Not a single BJP MLA, MP, or minister showed up to check on the victims. Now BJP leaders are nowhere to be seen in these neighbourhoods. But the Aam Aadmi Party stands firmly with the downtrodden. AAP will take this fight from the streets to the Parliament. Our party will reach every jhuggi, unite the people, and make them aware that if they do not get organised, the BJP will do this to all of them, one by one.”
Saurabh Bharadwaj took to ‘X’ to reaffirm the party’s commitment to jhuggi dwellers. He stated, “The Aam Aadmi Party will fight for the rights of jhuggi dwellers from the streets to the assembly. The BJP had promised ‘Jahan Jhuggi, Wahan Makaan’, but after coming to power, they used bulldozers to render the poor homeless. By demolishing the jhuggi(s) in Madrasi Camp, hundreds of families have been devastated. Today, along with Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, I met the jhuggi residents and shared in their pain. AAP stands firmly with them.”
Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh writes to PM Modi:
Sanjay Singh began by stating, “The residents of Madrasi Camp in Jangpura, who have lived in these communities for over five to six decades are now being brutally displaced under the guise of urban development. Entire settlements are being demolished, families rendered homeless and lives uprooted despite repeated promises made to them by the very BJP-led government now turning its back on them.”
He continued, “Before the Delhi Assembly elections yourself being the Prime Minister and the BJP leaders stood before the people and promised housing within the same jhuggi-jhopri clusters under the slogan ‘Jahan jhuggi, wahan makan’. Guarantee Cards were distributed, raising the hopes of thousands of working-class families and many of whom have kept this city running as domestic workers, labourers, and essential staff.”
“But the reality exposes the BJP-led government’s promise. Bulldozers rolled into Madrasi Camp without notice. Women, children, and the elderly were forced to run for safety and left with nothing. Homes built over decades were reduced to rubble in minutes. No arrangements were made for relocation, no rehabilitation, no humanity,” added the AAP MP.
Sanjay Singh further added, “These residents possess ration cards, Aadhaar, and voter IDs listing Madrasi Camp as their official address. Their livelihoods, children’s schools, and entire community networks are based here. The so-called alternative housing offered in far-off Narela, 40 km away are not feasible as it disconnects people from their livelihoods, education, and community networks.”
He asked, “The BJP-led Government must answer:
-Is this how the government treats the very people it promised to protect?
-Were the Guarantee Cards just election-time gimmicks?
-What kind of development demolishes lives instead of improving them?”
Sanjay Singh demanded, “And I urge you to take immediate and personal cognizance of this grave situation and act without delay. We demand the following:
- An immediate halt to all demolitions in slum areas.
- Immediate rehabilitation of all displaced families in the same place as promised under ‘Jahan jhuggi, wahan makan’.”
Sanjay Singh also wrote a letter to the Prime Minister regarding the eviction of people from Purvanchal from Delhi
Sanjay Singh wrote, “As a conscious citizen of this country and a Member of Parliament, I am addressing this letter to you with deep anguish and a sense of helplessness. For the past few months, relentless demolition has been taking place in numerous settlements of Delhi, including Madrasi Camp, Basti Nizamuddin, Batla House, Azadpur Mandi, and areas of Okhla, putting the lives of thousands of families in jeopardy.”
Calling attention to the invaluable role of migrant labourers, Sanjay Singh said, “These are the very people who are the silent pillars of the country’s economic framework — labourers, daily wage workers, rickshaw pullers, domestic workers, and small shopkeepers from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Bengal, and Chhattisgarh, who have toiled for years to build Delhi’s streets and societies. They did not come here to commit crimes. They came carrying a simple dream — two square meals a day, a school for their children, and a modest life of dignity for their families. Now, even that dream is being snatched away from them.”
Defending the rights of these working-class migrants, Sanjay Singh wrote, “Delhi is that city where every corner of the country comes in search of a future. Especially workers from states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have nurtured this city with their blood and sweat. They built its roads, erected its buildings, and drove its economy forward. And now, when these very workers live in jhuggis, they are being evicted by branding them ‘illegal’ — without notice, without rehabilitation, without human empathy.”
Appealing for inclusive governance, Sanjay Singh wrote, “What we need today is not just development, but inclusive development — one that expands roads but does not crush homes; that beautifies a metropolis but does not strip it of its soul. The real question is: where will the people who came to Delhi for a roof over their heads go now? Should they live on the roads, under flyovers, or beside railway tracks with their children? Is their citizenship only relevant during elections?”
Reminding the Prime Minister of BJP’s previous promises, Sanjay Singh stated, “Your government and the Bharatiya Janata Party had made public commitments in recent years that gave hope to these residents.”
-“In 2022, during the Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections, the BJP promised to provide 17,000 flats under the ‘Jahan Jhuggi, Wahan Makaan’ scheme.”
-“In the 2025 Assembly election campaign, the party reiterated its commitment to build 3.5 lakh permanent homes and also assured continuation of schemes such as Rs 5 meals (Atal Canteens), free electricity, community toilets, water ATMs, and women support programs.”
-“Union Home Minister Amit Shah himself, at the ‘Jhuggi Basti Pradhan Sammelan,’ had promised that every resident of such settlements would be given a home, and no scheme would be halted.”
Criticizing the reality on the ground, Sanjay Singh said, “But the current situation contradicts these promises. The fact remains that even today, lakhs of jhuggi residents have not received homes, and by 2025, only 4,700 houses have been distributed. This clearly shows that the announced schemes are not being implemented on the ground, and instead, a bulldozer policy is being followed. Are the labourers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar not citizens of this country? Is Article 21 of the Constitution — the right to life and dignity — meant only for the affluent urban population?”
Concluding with a compassionate plea, Sanjay Singh warned, “When demolishing the homes of the poor, we must remember that if the dreams of the poor are shattered in the ‘city of dreams’, then Delhi becomes not a city, but a jungle of concrete buildings. At this moment, a glance of compassion from you, a humane decision — can restore hope, dignity, and safety to the lives of millions of poor families. Humanity is the greatest religion in the world, and the people of this nation expect the Prime Minister to uphold this very religion of humanity. Please stop the destruction of these lives. Save these jhuggis, and kindly ensure that people are provided homes where their jhuggis currently stand.”
