New Delhi:
The Centre is out to take strong action against former Parliamentarians overstaying at their official bungalows. But its action against Jat leader Ajit Singh went wrong today, with protesters and police engaging in a pitched battle in Muradnagar, 38 km from Delhi. Around 20 people were injured.
Singh, a former MP and the chief of Rashtriya Lok Dal, or RLD, has been occupying a bungalow at Tughlak Road. And on September 13, electricity was cut off from the house after repeated eviction notices failed to bear fruit.
Hours later, thousands of farmers from Chaudhury Charan Singh Manch and the Kisan Union - led by RLD leaders - assembled on National Highway 58 at Muradnagar.
The clash began when the police tried to clear the highway for traffic. The protesters brickbatted the police, who retaliated with a baton charge. RLD leader from Modinagar Sudesh Sharma was later detained.
The protesters have been demanding that the house be converted into a memorial for former Prime Minister and Ajit Singh's father, Choudhary Charan Singh. And with an eye to the coming assembly elections, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has seconded the demand.
Mr Hooda has written to Minister of Urban development, Venkaiah Naidu, saying evicting Mr Ajit Singh from the Tughlaq Road bungalow amounts to showing disrespect to Chowdhury Charan Singh. The bungalow, he said, should be converted into a memorial.
"It's not about a bungalow but sentiments attached to it. Farmers want it as a memorial. I am vacating the bungalow on September 25, but our party will continue the fight for the memorial," Mr Ajit Singh told NDTV. The family has had the bungalow for over 30 years. When Charan Singh was the PM he had occupied it.
The government doesn't view the request for a memorial with favour.
A government official said Ajit Singh had not made the demand earlier. "As a minister in the UPA government, Ajit Singh did not demand a memorial. Hooda did not ask for a memorial either. Also Charan singh passed away in 1987, no demand for a memorial was made even then," he said.
Besides, in 2000, the Union cabinet had decided that no Lutyen's bungalow could be converted into a memorial. In July 2013, the Supreme Court, while hearing a case, also asked the Centre not to convert bungalows into memorials.
Mr Singh is among 30 former ministers and parliamentarians, whose power and water supply were disconnected by the New Delhi Municipal Council two days ago. Jitendra Singh and Mohd Azharuddin are also in the list of the politicians who were refusing to vacate the premises.