New Delhi, Sep 4 (IANS): The Congress on Sunday supported the demands of Mahapanchayat of 360 villages of Delhi, saying "the government should immediately abolish taxes in rural villages like the Congress government of Delhi had earlier abolished". 

Delhi unit Congress president Arvinder Singh Lovely said that the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Aam Aadmi Party have given step-motherly treatment to lakhs of villagers living in Delhi rural areas and both the parties make false promises during elections.

Lovely said that the Congress supports all the demands of the farmers who attended the Mahapanchayat.

He said that Delhi "dehat" is suffering the consequences of the wrong policies of the BJP and AAP governments.

"Today the villages of Delhi are shrinking and cities are being built in them... and the people here are being forced to migrate," he said, adding that a large number of villagers participated in the mahapanchayat including Congress senior spokesperson Naresh Kumar, former MLA Vijay Lochav, corporator Mandeep Singh.

Lovely reminded that when he was the Urban Development Minister in Delhi government, he along with the then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had got the proposal of imposing tax in rural areas scrapped.

He also strongly opposed the taxes imposed in the villages of Delhi dehat and said that BJP and AAP have nothing to do with the problems of farmers and villagers.