Is bulldozer being used for political purposes in Chhattisgarh?

Raveesh Benjamin

Raipur: At the time of elections, BJP had made it clear that if they form the government, they will not shy away from taking bulldozer action to end crime from the state. As soon as the Lok Sabha elections were over, the police-administration started bulldozer action on the hideouts of criminals and illegal constructions in the state. In the last 15 days, bulldozers have started clearing encroachments and illegal occupations of criminals in the rest of the state including Durg-Bhilai. On this, the opposition alleges that all this is a pretense to cover up the deteriorating law and order, while the ruling party has also given a sharp reply.
The entire state saw this bulldozer action of demolishing the hideouts of 2 miscreants at two different places in Durg. In Durg, the BSP enforcement team razed the dhaba of the miscreant Pinky Rai located on Durg Utai Patan Road in the presence of Nevai police. Pinky Rai has several cases registered against him in several police stations. Similarly, the police-administration and the BSP enforcement squad bulldozed the house of habitual criminal Mukul Sona in Risali Bhatha. The administration completely demolished the house built by Mukul Sona by illegal occupation.

While in Dhamtari, more than 50 illegal constructions were cleared by bulldozers from Maroud to Kurud on NH30. The tehsildar, NHAI and the police force together took this action. By the way, these are only the pictures of today’s action. Earlier also, in the past few days, the administration’s bulldozer had run on illegal encroachments in 31 unfit buildings in Sector-6, including the hideouts of a criminal named Amit Jose, who was under surveillance for the shooting incident at Globe Chowk in Bhilai. Now political angles are being explored behind the bulldozers that have come into action in the state. The ruling party claims that whoever tries to disturb the state and does something wrong will definitely be punished. While the opposition’s advice is that the government should pay attention to the deteriorating law and order situation. The opposition taunted the government and said that the BJP government in Chhattisgarh is adopting the Yogi model of UP which will not be of any benefit.

It is clear that the threat of bulldozers is increasing in Chhattisgarh. Bulldozer action is more active in Bhilai in the state, on which Congress leaders have raised questions. On the other hand, BJP claims that they had warned of bulldozer action before the elections, so now it is being implemented, that too completely within the ambit of law and order. The question is whether bulldozers are being used for political purposes in the state? Or is politics being done on the action being taken for good governance?