"Slum dwellers living under the fear of bulldozer": Rahul Gandhi interacts with women at Shakur Basti

The Congress has shared a video of former party chief Rahul Gandhi's visit to the Shakur Basti area in the national capital where he was seen interacting with the slum dwellers who expressed to him the fear of bulldozers razing their homes as well as issues such as price rise.

The Congress shared the video of Gandhi's interaction with women and other residents from the area on its social media accounts last week after his visit to the Delhi University PG Men's Hostel.

Sharing the video on Twitter, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh wrote, "Listen to Rahul Gandhi's conversation with these women. See the truth of 'Amrit Kaal'."

In the video, women from the area can be seen expressing their problems of not having proper access to water, toilets and electricity. The women also informed Gandhi that they constantly live in fear of their houses being razed by bulldozers.

Besides the fear of bulldozers and no proper basic facilities in the area, the women also talked about how tough it is for them to run their houses due to price rises so much so that they are even unable to buy or refill gas cylinders.

In the video, the Congress leader asked the group of women if the demolition drive issue from 2015 has now been resolved.

To his question, a woman told him that it has been halted for the time being, but they keep on getting notices.

Gandhi had visited the Shakur Basti area in 2015 during which he criticised the Central government and the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government over the razing of a slum cluster by the Railways and had assured the homeless that he would fight for them.

The Congress leader also interacted with the children of the area and spoke with a lawyer who had followed up on the demolition case in the courts.

The lawyer informed the Congress leader that a PIL was filed in the name of Ajay Maken on Rahul Gandhi's instructions.

The PIL had led to a judgment that the residents would not be removed unless they were provided an alternative place to stay, the lawyer told Gandhi.