May be forcefully evicted, Kejri says in video
STANDOFF CONTINUES Chief minister writes to PM Narendra Modi, asks him to intervene, says protest not for personal gain
NEWDELHI: Continuing with their protest, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his ministers spent their fifth night at the visitor’s room of the lieutenant-governor Anil Baijal’s office.
The CM and his minister have written two letters to prime minister Narendra Modi, requesting his intervention to end the alleged strike by IAS officers posted in the Delhi government.
Throughout the day, Kejriwal and ministers Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain and Gopal Rai remained active on social media, posting their fears about rumours that they were being evicted from the L-G’S office.
The CM took to Twitter to react to a meeting called by environment minister Imran Hussain to discuss measures to curb air pollution in the city, where no IAS officer was present.
“How do we work like this? Can Modiji try working like this for a day? Can our critics kindly tell us how do we function like this?” Kejriwal said after he found that principal secretary (environment) AK Singh and member secretary of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee SM Ali absent from the meeting. Both the bureaucrats did not respond to calls or messages.
Singh, in an order issued by the ministry of home affairs on Friday, has been transferred to Lakshadweep. It is not clear if he did not attend the meeting because of his transfer.
Kejriwal hit out at his detractors, saying the sit-in was “not for personal gains”. “Some TV channels are labelling our protest as ‘Ac-sofa ka dharna’. We all have ACS in our homes. I want to ask, am I here for myself or to get jobs for my children? Is it for my own work. Is it easy to sleep on sofas for four nights? It is not,” Kejriwal said in a video message.
The chief minister said many projects in Delhi were stuck because bureaucrats do not attend meetings. “People are asking about pollution. Every 15 days, we used to have review meetings. The environment secretary has not been attending these meetings in the last four months. If he doesn’t come, how should we work,” he asked.
The IAS AGMUT Association, in a statement on Friday, said that reports of bureaucrats “not working” or “being on strike” were “baseless”. The association said it regretted that no effort had been made by the chief minister or his deputy to bridge the trust deficit .
Meanwhile, the MHA transferred 1985-batch IAS officer, Anindo Majumdar, to Delhi from Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Majumdar’s transfer sparked speculation of him replacing chief secretary Anshu Prakash.
Majumdar, the seniormost IAS officer in the Delhi government, is a batch senior to Anshu Prakash. APRIL 22: Rally against anti-farmer Land Acquisiton Bill. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal led a rally against the Centresponsored Bill at Jantar Mantar. SEP 23: AAP leaders protest against hike in fuel prices. AAP members led by development and labour minister Gopal Rai held protests in all 70 constituents of Delhi against the increase in prices of petrol and diesel. OCTOBER 9: Protest in front of North Delhi mayor Sanjeev Nayyar’s residence.
Protest in Shakur Basti led by Health Minister Satyendar Jain against failure of MCD to maintain sanitation in the city. MAY 11: AAP members protest outside Election Commission over EVM rigging issue.
OCT 14: AAP leadership protests hike in Metro fare in front of Nirman Bhavan.
NOV 8: AAP organises nationwide protest, led by senior party leader Gopal Rai, to mark first anniversary of demonetisation. wide protest that marked one year of demonetisation JANUARY 29: March held from Patel Chowk police station to Parliament House led by Gopal Rai. The party sought a stay order by Union government on the ongoing sealing drive. It also demanded an ordinance to amend building bylaws. The AAP had alleged that the Bjp-ruled civic bodies were harassing traders under the garb of sealing drive. APRIL 14: Protest outside PM’S residence over issue of women’s security. The protest was held to condemn the inaction by the state governments in the Kathua as well as in the Unnao rape cases. MAY 14: Dharna in front of L-G Anil Baijal’s office in Delhi by Arvind Kejriwal and deputy CM