Stormy midnight meet sparks crisis in Capital
MLAS VS BABUS Chief secy alleges manhandling at CM house; chaos in secretariat
NEWDELHI: The tenuous relationship between the Delhi government and the state bureaucracy was left in tatters on Tuesday after chief secretary Anshu Prakash alleged he was physically assaulted by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAS in the presence of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal late on Monday night.
Prakash alleged the incident took place at midnight at Kejriwal’s official Flagstaff Road residence in Civil Lines. He accused legislators from the ruling party, including Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan, of “hitting several blows with fists” on his head and temple for refusing to comply with their demands of releasing certain TV advertisements highlighting the achievements of the government.
The police registered a First Information Report (FIR) based on the chief secretary’s statement, but Delhi’s deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia described the allegations as “bizarre” and said that the meeting was about people in the Capital not getting their stipulated supply of rations. Sisodia admitted that the meeting had got “heated” but said there was no assault. “In his complaint, Prakash said there was one MLA who issued life threats to him,” Delhi Police’s chief spokesperson Dependra Pathak said, adding that the police have applied nine Indian Penal Code sections, including criminal conspiracy, wrongful confinement, voluntarily causing hurt and assault to deter a public servant from discharging his duty, in the FIR.
The AAP responded with counter-charges on Tuesday — state environment minister Imran Hussain and AAP leader Ashish Khetan alleged they were manhandled at the state secretariat by government officials.
They added MLAS Ajay Dutt and Prakash Jarwal filed a police complaint against Prakash for making “casteist remarks” during
the late-night meeting at the chief minister’s residence. Police have registered an FIR on Hussain and Khetan’s complaint, but are yet to register a case on the charges made by Dutt and Jarwal, who was arrested late in the night after being questioned.
In the middle of this crossfire, governance at the Delhi secretariat came to a halt on Tuesday as officials staged a sit-in protest against the alleged assault on the chief secretary. All meetings were cancelled, and state transport minister Kailash Gahlot said he had to call the police to escort them out of the secretariat building, which resonated with sounds of anti-government slogans all day.
The bureaucrats have decided not to hold any meetings on Wednesday, and engage in only written communication with the government.
Condemning the alleged attack on the chief secretary, a delegation of the all-india IAS association met lieutenant-governor Anil Baijal and home minister Rajnath Singh demanding action against the MLAS. The team of bureaucrats termed the incident as a “pre-planned and pre-meditated” attack.
Singh sought a report from Baijal . “I’m deeply pained by the happenings involving the chief secretary of the Delhi government. The civil servants should be allowed to work with dignity and without fear,” he said.