Arvind Kejriwal, along with Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain and Gopal Rai have been staging a sit-in protest at the L-G’s office since Monday. (File photo)
As Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his cabinet colleagues continue to stage a sit-in protest at L-G Anil Baijal’s office for the third straight day, AAP MLAs and workers on Wednesday will march to Raj Niwas to protest against the bureaucratic crisis in the national capital. “We are not sitting here for ourselves. We are sitting here for the people of Delhi, for schools, water, mohalla clinics, so that the people of Delhi get the facilities,” Kejriwal said in a video message from LG’s office.
The BJP and Congress slammed Kejriwal, terming his ‘dharna’ at the L-G office a “mockery of democracy” and a “drama”. Raising the water shortage issue in the city, BJP’s Delhi unit will also stage a protest at Kejriwal’s residence today.
Kejriwal, along with Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain and Gopal Rai have been staging a sit-in at the LG’s office since Monday to protest against agitating IAS officials and to get an approval for the doorstep ration delivery scheme. Jain also launched an indefinite hunger strike over the demands.
Satyender Jain, Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Shisodia and Gopal Rai at LG House, on protest on June 11, 2018. Express photo.
* Issue a direction to IAS officers to end their "strike"
* Action against those who have struck work for "four months"
* Approve the proposal for doorstep delivery of rations.
While Kejriwal and company continue to protest at the LG's office, Anil Baijal did not come to his office on Tuesday. Sources said Baijal had meetings in the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry and other places, and this was why he could not come to office today. However, the LG made sure that the leaders were provided tea and snacks.
As the tussle between the Delhi CM and LG Baijal continues, Kejriwal on Wednesday accused the Modi govt of using the IAS officers as "tools" to "scuttle good work done by Delhi govt." "Is it possible for IAS officers to return to work without green signal from PMO?" he wrote on Twitter
Alleging that the IAS officers had been skipping work, the AAP on Tuesday released a set of weekly reports, signed by WCD (director) Shilpa Shinde, to establish that non-cooperation by officials was affecting work. Six reports that stated that there was “nil” progress to be reported from the department were shared by AAP and ministers on Twitter. Shinde sought to set the record straight by releasing another set of documents, which included three reports from the department to show that work was done on other weeks.
“The allegation that officers are not meeting ministers is not entirely correct. Meetings have been attended during the preparation of the budget, cabinet decisions, and several other issues,” said a senior officer who did not want to be named.
Welcome to the live blog. Delhi Chief Minister and his cabinet colleagues will continue to protest inside LG's office for a third straight day. AAP leaders, meanwhile, will stage a march to 4pm today to extend their support. The BJP also has planned a protest outside Kejriwal's residence. Follow this space to track all latest developments