New Delhi: The AAP leaders and workers camped outside chief minister’s residence on Tuesday in support of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Cabinet colleagues who have been staging a sit-in at the L-G’s office and asserted they would continue the fight for the rights of the people without any compromise. Tents have been put up outside Mr Kejriwal’s Civil Lines residence.
This is a fight for the rights of the people of Delhi, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh told reporters outside the chief minister’s residence.
“At the instance of Narendra Modi, the lieutenant-governor has crippled Delhi government. We will not keep quiet now and fight till the last,” Mr Singh asserted.
Flanked by senior party leaders Saurabh Bhardwaj and Atishi Marlena, the party MP said that they were prepared for a long drawn battle over issues of full statehood, IAS officers’ strike and the schemes of government including doorstep delivery of ration, allegedly curtailed by the L-G.
“Modi is behind the crippling of Delhi government’s functioning using the lieutenant-governor as a pawn.”
Mr Singh said that he was in touch with Opposition leaders such as D. Raja of the CPI and Sitaram Yechury of the CPI(M) over the developments in Delhi.
Mr Bhardwaj said the IAS officers of Delhi were on strike. Citing rules, he said that even “slowing down” work and not attending meetings called by ministers was a form of strike.
“Over a dozen show-cause notices and memos have been sent to the officers, but the situation is the same. They are shying away from openly admitting their strike because they will lose their jobs since rules do not permit it,” he said.
The AAP workers on Tuesday also decided to embark on a march from the chief minister’s residence to the L-G house on Wednesday.
“All AAP leaders, MLAs, councillors, and volunteers will march to the L-G house on Tuesday at 4 pm to raise the issue of illegal strike by IAS officers and demand action against the officers who have stalled government’s work and the approval to the home delivery of the ration scheme,” AAP national secretary Pankaj Gupta said.
The party also circulated bulk messages to people to join the march in large numbers and hit the streets at 4 pm on Wednesday.
Mr Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia, labour minister Gopal Rai, and health minister Satyendar Jain spent the night at L-G Anil Baijal’s office to press for their demands, including a direction to IAS officers to end their “strike” and action against officers who have struck work for “four months.”
