NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party may raise the ongoing demolition drive in Delhi, spurred by a Supreme Court order, in Parliament on Thursday.

Senior party leaders have charged the Government with "promising" legislation to regularise irregular constructions but "doing nothing." The BJP will show its solidarity with traders' associations, which have called a Delhi bandh.

"Thousands of jhuggis have been removed, people displaced, shops have been sealed, homes demolished and the Delhi Government is looking on helplessly," BJP deputy leaders V.K. Malhotra and Sushma Swaraj said here on Wednesday. Focussing attention on this problem was a priority for the party.

Mr. Malhotra said an "amnesty scheme" was needed to save homes, offices and shops, where some illegal constructions came up but within the land owned privately. "We do not want amnesty for encroachment on public land, but other irregularities must be regularised after charging penalties."

In fact, MPs, cutting across party lines, were critical of the Supreme Court order virtually ordering the Delhi Government to remove all hawkers from the streets. That would deprive lakhs of people of an honest livelihood, they said.

`Make letters public'

Mr. Malhotra demanded the "resignation" of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the "public humiliation" he suffered whenCongress president Sonia Gandhi contradicted him on the issue of Free Trade Agreements. The `letters' they exchanged should be made public, he said.

A privilege motion against the Prime Minister for allegedly "misleading Parliament" on the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal was also under consideration, Mr. Malhotra indicated.

At a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee of the Lok Sabha, the BJP and the Left wanted a discussion on the agrarian crisis with a special focus on the rising incidence of suicide by farmers. On the office of profit issue, the Government indicated that it would complete consultations with all political parties by May 13. "Some time next week" a Bill could be brought before Parliament to expand the list of "offices" held by MPs which would be exempted from attracting disqualification.

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