Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party today accused the BJP of being responsible for the encroachments that were demolished in northwest Delhi's Jahangirpuri -- an area that has been under considerable tension since Saturday's violence during a Hanuman Jayanti rally.
Calling the demolition a "drama", Deputy Chief Minister and senior leader Manish Sisodia questioned when the BJP would use bulldozers on the "houses of leaders who took bribes for 15 years and allowed these structures to come up".
"Demolish the houses of those leaders as well. The BJP should say when their houses will be bulldozed," he added, targetting the BJP, which has been running the Delhi civic bodies for more than a decade.
Nine bulldozers were pressed into service by the BJP-ruled North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) in Jahangirpuri around 10 in the morning.
Shortly after, a three-judge Supreme Court bench, led by the Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, in response to an urgent petition, ordered the razing to stop till tomorrow, when the next hearing will be held.
The civic officials in Jahangirpuri, however, insisted that they have not received a copy of the order and proceeded to raze not only several shops but also the gates and the wall of a mosque which was at the centre of the controversy during Saturday's Hanuman Jayanti rally.
After a two-hour stand-off, CPM leader Brinda Karat was seen blocking a bulldozer and waving the copy of the court order.
The petitioner said the use of bulldozers following communal clashes targetting one community was a disturbing pattern seen in states like Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
"AAP's stand is that the BJP is responsible for unrest in the country," Mr Sisodia said, "We need to run bulldozers at BJP headquarters to end goondagardi (hooliganism)".
Questioning where the BJP was taking the country, he said the discourse today is not about health, education or IT, but about "goondai (hooliganism)".
Earlier, AAP MP Raghav Chadha had accused Home Minister Amit Shah of "orchestrating" communal riots. "The Home Minister is himself orchestrating these riots. If you want to use the bulldozer, use it to demolish the Home Minister's house. That's how riots will stop," the AAP leader told said in a video posted on his Twitter account.
On Tuesday, Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta had written to the NDMC mayor, asking him to identify illegal constructions of "rioters" in Jahangirpuri and demolish them using bulldozers.
"The illegal constructions and encroachments by these rioters should be identified and demolished with bulldozers and strict action should be taken against them at the earliest," Delhi BJP president wrote to Mayor Raja Iqbal, reported news agency Press Trust of India.
Later, the civic body requested the Delhi Police to deploy at least 400 personnel, to ensure law and order during the drive.
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