The Uttar Pradesh administration has demolished an alleged illegal property of a former BJP MLA and sent demolition notices to two other rebel leaders who quit the Hindutva party, reports said. The three leaders had joined the Samajwadi Party ahead of the state elections held between February and March.

The demolitions are the latest addition to “bulldozer drives” by the BJP in several states to structures it claims are illegal. Leaders like Adityanath have even said that the “bulldozer brand” is quite effective. The structures that are razed most often belong to Muslims.

On Thursday, an alleged illegal property of Samajwadi Party MLA Roshan Lal Verma was demolished in Uttar Pradesh’s Shahjahanpur, The Quint reported.

Earlier this week, the revenue department officials of the Tilhar administration had inspected a plot of land owned by Verma, according to Aaj Tak. Officials alleged that Verma had built a hospital on the plot that had been illegally captured, the news channel reported.

Verma had won the 2017 Assembly elections from the Tilhar constituency on a BJP ticket.

Dharam Singh Saini served notice

Dharam Singh Saini, who was a minister in the Adityanath Cabinet before quitting the saffron party, has been served a notice for allegedly constructing two shops on encroached land, the Hindustan Times reported on Thursday.

Saini had lost the 2022 Uttar Pradesh elections, which he had contested on a Samajwadi Party ticket.

The Chilkana-Sultanpur nagar panchayat in Saharanpur district had issued notices to 24 shops of 12 shopowners, including Saini, on April 19. The shopowners have been asked to submit a reply within seven days, failing which their shops will be demolished, the notice stated.

Chilkana-Sultanpur nagar panchayat Executive Officer Jitendra Rana said that the shops on two plots near the Chilkana bus stand had encroached upon a road, the Hindustan Times reported. A complaint had been filed in the matter on April 7, Rana said.

Till 2019, there was a veterinary hospital on the patch of land, according to Aaj Tak. However, during Adityanath’s first term as the chief minister, the administration had planned to build a cow shed after demolishing the hospital. But, in 2020 when he was still a minister in the Adityanath Cabinet, Saini allowed the construction of a market on the plot.

Notice sent to Brajesh Prajapati

The local authorities in Banda district have also issued an order to demolish a multi-storeyed building belonging to former BJP MLA Brajesh Prajapati. In the order issued on April 18, the secretary of the Banda Development Authority has asked Prajapati to remove his belongings from the building within 15 days.

Prajapati, who had won the Tindwari seat in Uttar Pradesh on a BJP ticket in 2017, had also quit the party and joined the Samjawadi Party ahead of this year’s election.

The order stated that Prajapati had not taken required permission from the authority for the construction. The Banda Development Authority had issued him a show-cause notice on March 22. But, he did not respond to the notice or present the necessary documents on the matter till April 7, the order stated.