CM Arvind Kejriwal after his meeting with PM Narendra Modi at Parliament House on Tuesday. (Photo: Prem Nath Pandey)

A week after the national capital came under the grip of communal riots, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday, in what was their first meeting after the AAP’s return to power.

Briefing reporters about the meeting in the Parliament House, Kejriwal said they discussed the role of Delhi Police during the violence, which peaked last Monday and Tuesday in the city’s Northeast district, claiming at least 47 lives.

Kejriwal also emphasised that the PM has assured him of full cooperation over the next five years in developing Delhi and working for the welfare of people.

“We also discussed the situation in Delhi. I told him the police proactively quelled rumours, panic and averted another crisis Sunday night by hitting the streets in large numbers and appealing to people to maintain calm. Had they shown similar alacrity last Monday and Tuesday — whatever took place over those two nights in one district — perhaps a lot of lives could have been saved,” the CM said.

Kejriwal said the PM agreed with him that both governments should ensure such incidents do not recur in the city. “We agreed on working together on preventing such a drastic situation from happening in the future. Delhi is the capital of the country. We will take whatever steps that need to be taken in the future to prevent such riots. There should never be such riots in Delhi,” he said.

Kejriwal also requested Modi that whoever was responsible for the riots, “irrespective of party, religion, or stature, should not be spared and strict action should be taken against them, so the message that such actions will not be tolerated goes out to the public”.