AAP dharna LIVE Updates: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on dharna at the LG’s office. (Express photo)
The impasse between the AAP government and Lt Governor Anil Baijal has shown no signs of a truce as the sit-in protest by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and three of his Cabinet colleagues -Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, PWD Minister Satyendar Jain, and Labour Minister Gopal Rai – entered its fifth day on Friday. The AAP convenor, who had written to the Prime Minister on Thursday to intervene and end the agitation of the IAS officers, posted an early morning tweet, lamenting on receiving no response from Narendra Modi and hoped a solution was around the corner. In his letter to Modi, Kejriwal also listed a number of instances to make his case that the protests by IAS officers — following the alleged assault on Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash on February 20 — had affected administrative work.
Meanwhile, the BJP’s counter-protest outside the Chief Minister’s office at the Delhi Secretariat against AAP’s sit-in at Raj Niwas entered its second day on Friday. BJP MP Parvesh Verma, MLAs Vijender Gupta, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, Jagdish Pradhan and suspended AAP MLA Kapil Mishra have demanded a meeting with the chief minister, who they have accused of striking work.
On Thursday, AAP launched a candle-march to protest against Baijal over Delhi’s statehood issue and found support in CPI(M) leader Sitaram Brinda Karat. Several other opposition parties — including SP, RJD, Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam — has backed the dharna led by Kejriwal. Leaders of some of these parties are expected to join the AAP’s planned march to the PM’s residence Sunday.
AAP dharna LIVE Updates: AAP leaders at a candlelight march on Thursday. (Express photo)
Seeking to draw a parallel between the style of functioning of Lt Governors of Delhi and Puducherry, Chief Minister V Narayanasamy today accused bot of interfering in the functioning of the elected governments, reports PTI. The Puducherry CM, while referring to the sit-in being staged by Delhi Chie Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his cabinet colleagues at the L-G's office, said they were protesting against 'interference' by Lt Governor Anil Baijal.
Former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit, meanwhile, slammed the Aam Aadmi Party over its continuous sit-ins at the LG’s office and said Arvind Kejriwal must first read the Constitution and then approach Prime Minister Narendra Modi for its demand for full statehood for Delhi. “Kejriwal must understand Delhi is a Union Territory and he is wrong if he thinks he can have a governance model like Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. He should first read the Constitution. If he thinks that there is a need to make amendments to the Constitution, he should approach Modi ji and the Parliament,” the senior Congress leader told reporters in the national capital. Read full report here.
"The AAP government has always stood by its people. And the people have also always supported the government in return. The BJP is doing nothing but drama," Raghav Chadha said.
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader and leader of opposition in the Jharkhand Assembly, Hemant Soren, also extended his support to the AAP government. "I salute the leaders involved in the struggle to fight for the rights of the people of Delhi. What kind of a democracy is this where the government is forced to come out on the streets to fight for the rights of its people? Jharkhand stands with the Delhi government," he tweeted.
Taking a swipe at the BJP-led government at the Centre, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu tweeted, "The trend of using the Governor's Office for Political benefits of the ruling party at the Centre, goes against the spirit of the Constitution."
Giving an analogy to the present situation in Delhi, AAP spokesperson Raghav Chadha wondered what would happen if secretaries of the Central government started boycotting meetings called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ministers. "What if Nripendra Misra, Pramod Kumar Misra, Ajit Doval, Hasmukh Adhia, Rajiv Gauba and other secretaries of the Govt of India start boycotting meetings called by the PM and his ministers? What if they resort to naked insubordination? Just imagine," Chadha said.
Giving an analogy to the present situation in Delhi, AAP spokesperson Raghav Chadha wondered what would happen if secretaries of the Central government started boycotting meetings called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ministers. "What if Nripendra Misra, Pramod Kumar Misra, Ajit Doval, Hasmukh Adhia, Rajiv Gauba and other secretaries of the Govt of India start boycotting meetings called by the PM and his ministers? What if they resort to naked insubordination? Just imagine," Chadha said.
Sunita Kejriwal, a former IRS officer, and wife of Arvind Kejriwal, on Thursday called L-G Anil Baijal “insecure”, after being turned away by the Delhi Police from Raj Niwas when she had gone to meet her husband. “We wanted to meet our husbands for 10 minutes. They made us wait for 1.5 hours at the first barricade and then turned us away. Are we a security threat? Is he (Baijal) so insecure?” Sunita told The Indian Express. Read the full story here.
AAP leaders will address a press conference on the ongoing crisis in Delhi at 12 noon. Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has released a video message for the people of Delhi, speaking of its door-to-door campaign that will be launched from Monday.
With the crisis in the national capital showing no signs of fading, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday announced that AAP workers would hold a door-to-door campaign from Monday and collect 10 lakh letters that will be addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to end the IAS officers' strike.
AAP leader Sanjay Singh further said the rights of an elected government in Delhi were being trampled upon but it had the support of almost all opposition parties. Singh further said the party would explain its position to the President whenever it gets a chance to meet him. "The rights of an elected government in Delhi are being trampled upon. The public and almost all the opposition parties are with us, our movement is moving forward. Soon, we may get a chance to meet with the president and we'll let him about the situation in Delhi position," Singh tweeted. Citing an an “Emergency-like” situation in the national capital, AAP had written a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday and sought his intervention.
AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, who is one of the leaders participating in the sit-in at LG Anil Baijal's house, lashed out at the Modi government on Friday. Singh said the Modi government along with the LG's recalcitrant attitude was responsible for the present crisis in Delhi and demanded that striking IAS officers get back to work.
AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal on Friday thanked his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan for his letter asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and resolve issues related to the sit-in by the Delhi CM. "We all have to struggle together to protect Indian democracy, for which our freedom fighters laid down their lives and which is under threat during Modi rule," Kejriwal tweeted. The Kerala Chief Minister mentioned in his letter that people from his state living in Delhi were also facing problems due to the current situation in the national capital and expressed his concern over the image of Delhi in the world.
Welcome to our live blog. The sit-in protest at LG anil Baijal's office-cum-residence by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and three of his Cabinet colleagues has entered its fifth day. Today morning, Kejriwal lamented the lack of response from Baijal and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to whom the AAP chief had asked to intervene and end the agitation of the IAS officers on Thursday, over the crisis.