AAP stages protest at Jung’s residence on circle rates

Hundreds of Aam Aadmi Party supporters protested outside Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung’s official residence here on Sunday to oppose his decision to cancel the Delhi government’s order increasing circle rates of agricultural land.

The protestors, owing allegiance to the AAP rural wing and including farmers, condemned Jung’s action to quash the Arvind Kejriwal government’s decision on the issue and said the hike in circle rates of agricultural land would have benefited them.

The Delhi government last year increased the circle rates of agricultural land in Delhi. However, the Lt. Governor asked the government to withdraw the notification since his approval was not taken.

Rajeev Sinsinwala, AAP’s rural wing leader in Delhi, accused Jung of favouring builders rather than farmers.

“The Lt. Governor’s decision to cancel the order on circle rates comes out of his concern for big builders. He has done injustice to the farmers,” he said.

“He (Jung) has cancelled almost all government orders meant to benefit the common man,” he said in a statement here.

Sinsinwala said the order on the circle rates would have helped farmers get increased compensation for their agricultural land, from Rs 1 crore to Rs 3.5 crore.

Earlier on Sunday, Chief Minister Kejriwal said Jung had declared a virtual war on the people of Delhi.

“It has become L-G vs farmers, LG vs advocates, LG vs women and LG vs Delhiites,” Kejriwal tweeted.

He made the comment after appealing to Jung not to cancel the decisions taken by his government with public welfare in mind after it came to power in February 2015.

The Delhi High Court ruled on August 4 that the Lt. Governor is the supreme administrative authority in Delhi. Since then, Jung has gone about spiking many decisions taken by the Kejriwal government in the past almost 20 months.