Delhi govt, bureaucrats move to resolve stand-off; court raps CM
NEWDELHI: The stand-off between Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and lieutenant-governor Anil Baijal appeared to be headed for a resolution after eight days of heightened political drama in the national Capital with deputy CM Manish Sisodia calling for a meeting between “all stakeholders” to end the impasse.
Sisodia, who was holed up in the L-G’s office in a sit-in protest since last Monday along with Kejriwal, PWD minister Satyendar Jain and labour minister Gopal Rai, had to be rushed to hospital on Monday due to a rise in toxin levels in his blood after six days of being on hunger strike. Jain, who had also been on a hunger strike, was taken to hospital on Sunday night.
That leaves only Kejriwal and Rai in the L-G’s office, from where they have refused to budge until the state bureaucracy ends a “strike”, and for which they were slammed by the Delhi high court on Monday.
The court, while hearing a petition by BJP MLA Vijender Gupta, expressed disapproval of the protest at the L-G’s office and asked who had authorised Kejriwal and his colleagues to stage a sit-in at the venue.
“Who authorised the strike/ dharna? You are sitting inside the LG’s office. If it’s a strike, it has to be outside the office. You cannot hold a strike inside someone’s office or residence,” the court said.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of turning a blind eye to the “anarchy” in Delhi and aiding “chaos and disorder”. “Delhi CM, sitting in dharna at LG office. BJP sitting in dharna at CM residence. Delhi bureaucrats addressing press conferences... PM turns a blind eye to the anarchy; rather nudges chaos and disorder. People of Delhi are the victims, as this drama plays out,” Gandhi said on Twitter.
On Sunday, Kejriwal had made an appeal to all Delhi government bureaucrats, saying they were a part of his “family” and asked them to return to work, saying he would guarantee their safety. On Monday afternoon, not long after the high court’s observations, the IAS officers’ association issued a statement welcoming Kejriwal’s appeal and seeking “formal discussions” with him.
“We look forward to concrete interventions for our security and dignity,” the association said.
Sisodia, who was in hospital by then, wrote to the L-G that in light of the IAS association’s statement, a meeting be convened in which all stakeholders participate.
“We want to give the best security arrangement to our officers. Since security and services are subjects under your jurisdiction, we want you to convene the meeting...” Sisodia wrote in the letter.
Quoting Sisodia’s letter, Kejriwal tweeted: “I hope L-G calls a meeting soonest to resolve this issue”.
There was no statement from the L-G’s office until Monday evening.
The tussle between the government and the bureaucracy had started four months ago, when chief secretary Anshu Prakash accused Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs of assaulting him in the presence of the chief minister in his official bungalow at Civil Lines on February 19.
As a mark of protest, bureaucrats stopped attending meetings with ministers. The AAP government said that this was hampering governance but the bureaucrats have maintained that work is continuing normally, and had reiterated this contention in a press conference on Sunday.
The agitation by AAP -- which included two marches in central Delhi -- garnered so much attention that chief ministers of four non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) states came out in support of Kejriwal and appealed to the PM to end what they described as a “constitutional crisis”.