Haldwani: The Bharatiya Janata Party has argued that the Uttarakhand High Court’s directives must be followed by the government with regard to the action being taken to evict encroachers from railway land in Haldwani. Suresh Joshi, the party’s state spokesman, responded to the claims made by Congress leaders on the subject by claiming that persons who have encroached on the railway land had already established there decades earlier when the Congress was in control. Instead of letting the issue worsen to the detriment of the individuals, it is now claiming to be concerned about, Congress ought to have taken the appropriate action at the time.
Joshi stated, “The case had also been brought to the Supreme Court, which had ordered that the High Court decide the case. For a very long time, the railway also tried to clear encroachers from its property. Regarding the accusations being made right now by some Congress officials, they should keep in mind that all land conflicts in Haldwani, including the question of the railway land, stretch back to the Congress period. Whose government was in power when people began to live on the railways’ land three to four decades ago? Why didn’t the government at the time find a middle ground and facilitate lands for them if something bad was going on at the time? Our government has made it clear that we are adhering to the High Court’s position.
The position of our government is unequivocal: we are adhering to the rulings of the High Court and not politicizing the matter. Even if it is, Congress has failed in its attempt to turn this into a political issue, he claimed.
Recall that, in accordance with directions from the Uttarakhand High Court, encroachments on a 2.2 km length of railway land in Haldwani have been given a week to remove themselves or risk being razed. According to observers, the area’s 4,000+ families are also thought to represent a sizable vote bank, particularly for the party now in opposition.