Bulldozer action only for show: Cong slams BJP on Noida encroachment row

The Congress alleged on Monday that the bulldozer action against politician Shrikant Tyagi in Noida was only for show, with party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra asking whether the BJP government was not aware for all these years that the construction carried out by him was illegal.

Government officials in Uttar Pradesh used a bulldozer on Monday morning to remove encroachment outside absconding politician Tyagi's Noida residence. The Noida police also announced a cash reward of Rs 25,000 on information leading to the arrest of Tyagi, who has been accused of assaulting and abusing a woman inside a housing society.

''Did the BJP government not know for all these years that the construction carried out by the Noida BJP leader was illegal? The bulldozer action is only for show. The government is avoiding the answers to these questions,'' Priyanka Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.

''Who is giving him the courage to indulge in indecent behaviour with a woman and threaten women openly by sending 10-15 goons? Who is it who kept shielding him?'' the Congress general secretary asked.

She also asked under whose protection did Tyagi's hooliganism and illegal business flourish.

Priyanka Gandhi posted pictures of Tyagi with leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), including its chief J P Nadda, on Twitter.

Responding to a question on Tyagi at a press meet at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters here, party spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said in Uttar Pradesh, a BJP ''goon'' openly commits ''hooliganism'' with a woman, uses words that cannot be used in public life and then absconds.

''A tin shed in front of his house is demolished just for show,'' she said.

Shrinate questioned the ''silence'' of the BJP leadership on the issue.

She also asked why women leaders of the saffron party are not speaking out on the matter.

Tyagi, who claims to be associated with the BJP, has also been booked by police for allegedly assaulting and abusing a woman co-resident of Grand Omaxe, who had objected to him planting trees in the housing society's common area. Tyagi had claimed that he was well within his rights to do so.

The bulldozer action was carried out around 9 am by the Noida Authority to remove illegal structures outside Tyagi's ground-floor apartment in Grand Omaxe in the city's Sector 93B, an official told PTI.

Tyagi had encroached a portion of the housing society's common area in front of his flat by constructing temporary structures using pillars and tiles.

He had also planted trees in a park in front of his residence.

Police personnel in large numbers have been deployed at the society since Sunday evening, even as senior officers have interacted with its residents.