Mayors, civic leaders beat 'thaali' outside Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's house

NEW DELHI: Mayors and senior leaders of the three BJP-led municipal corporations of Delhi beat "thaali" outside Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence on Saturday to demand release of funds "due to the civic bodies".

The dharna by the municipal leaders seeking release of funds entered its sixth day as they refused to budge.

On Thursday, North Delhi Mayor Jai Prakash, South Delhi Mayor Anamika and East Delhi Mayor Nirmal Jain had held a joint press conference at the sit-in site and said the protest "will continue democratically, so that we can pay salaries to the corporation employees on time".

On Friday, at a joint press conference, the three mayors said they would "run offices" from the protest site from Monday onwards.

The three mayors have claimed that a total amount of Rs 13,000 crore is due to the north, south and east corporations from the Delhi government.

The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) hit back in a statement on Friday, saying, "Even the mayors of the BJP-ruled MCDs know that their protest is only an excuse by their high-command to harass CM Arvind Kejriwal and distract from the issue of nationwide farmers protests."