Neemuch (Madhya Pradesh): The Bangla Bagicha issue and the voters residing there could play a decisive role in the local body elections. Therefore, all political parties are trying their best to woo the voters there.
Senior Congress leader and former member of Parliament Minakshi Natrajan interacted with the members of Bangla Bagicha Sangharsh Samiti at advocate Amit Sharma’s office to d understand their long-pending issue. Natrajan is said to be a close aid of the Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi and she is leaving no stone unturned to ensure her party candidate's victory in the elections.
She was apprised by Narendra Soni, the candidate for the post of local councillor about the issue. Realising the seriousness of the issue, she reached the house of former councillor and advocate Amit Sharma and also asked the residents of the area about their problems and interacted with them. She assured support to the movement of Bangla Bagicha Sangharsh Samiti and to fight for their rights. Former MLA Nandkishore Patel, Congress leader Umrao Singh Gurjar, Ramesh Kadam, Harish Dua, and the Congress district President Ajit Kanthed were present.
A large number of residents including advocate Amit Sharma, Ashfaq Hussain, Darshan Sharma, Johar Bhai made their point on behalf of the Sangharsh Samiti. It was said that the demands of the residents are justified and they are being harassed unnecessarily by the ruling party. Their demands are justified. We fully support their demands and if we come to power, we will pass a resolution in favour of the residents of Bangla-Garikha in the very first meeting and send it to the government, the party members said.
Earlier, a month back residents had decided to boycott the local body polls. Many residents under the banner of Bangla – Bagicha Sangharsh Committee have decided to exercise their franchise only after a permanent solution to the long-pending Bangla Bagicha problem.
Committee members announced that they want a permanent solution to their long-pending problem and won’t bow down to any pressure this time. The committee has been continuously demanding a change in the Bangla Bagicha management rule for a long time. A large number of residents of the Bangla Bagicha area are involved in the struggle spearheaded by this committee.
What is the Bangla Bagicha issue?
The Bangla Bagicha issue arose after Britishers left the country. After independence, many bungalows and gardens were given to residents as gifts.
Many of the properties were on lease. Since then the residents have occupied these places. Registry continued in these areas till 2010 and many bungalow layouts were cleared by the municipality. But the registries were stopped in 2010 terming that these bungalow gardens were an encroachment.
Owing to the settlement rule implemented in 2017, legal Bakani or Bungalow residents are unable to apply for settlement. About 17,500 people are living in the Bakani area under the constant threat of coming under the Premises Eviction Act.
