Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday arrived at the residence of Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal to have his scheduled meeting for 5.30 pm. But the subsequent events turned dramatic after their meeting with the LG.
Kejriwal and his cabinet colleagues refused to leave the premises of Baijal’s official residence until their demands were met. Among other things, they had complained of inaction by Baijal in persuading the civil servants of the city government to end their strike.
“As per law, the IAS cannot go on strike. There is no reason for the strike, they don’t have any demand,” news agency IANS quoted Kejriwal as saying. He added that some officials had told him about being been under “pressure from the LG’s office” not to work.
Many officers have told us that they have been threatened by Raj Niwas of dire consequences if they withdrew their strike. LG promoting active rebellion against elected govt at PMO’s instance. People of Del will not tolerate this. https://t.co/9O2vEhMZTp
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) June 11, 2018
Even after their scheduled meeting with Baijal at 5.30 they remained put at the latter’s house until late night on Monday. The photo of Kejriwal and his cabinet colleagues resting on the sofa have gone viral since then.
The ministers included Satyendar Jain, Gopal Rai and Manish Sisodia. Their supporters staged sit-in protests outside the residence of Baijal, who in a statement, claimed that there was no strike adding that the atmosphere of mistrust between the state government and bureaucracy continued because “no sincere attempts to resolve the differences have been made so far by AAP government.”
His statement came for instant criticism by Sisodia, who said that the LG’s press release had conclusively proved that ‘he is the mastermind behind the IAS officer strike in Delhi for last 3 months, which has never happened in independent India.’
Press release issued by Hon @LtGovDelhi is clear evidence that he is the mastermind behind the IAS officer strike in Delhi for last 3 months, which has never happened in independent India.
— Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) June 11, 2018
Meanwhile, Kejriwal said that the civil servants had the audacity to remain on strike with full pay because the elected government had no power as Delhi was not a full-state. He said, “Today if Delhi was a full state, then the IAS officers wouldn’t have dared going on strike and we would have been able to implement the home delivery of ration long ago.”
आज अगर दिल्ली पूर्ण राज्य होता तो IAS अफ़सरों की हिम्मत नहीं होती हड़ताल करने की। और घर घर राशन की व्यवस्था कब की लागू हो चुकी होती।
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) June 11, 2018
Earlier, speaking in the Delhi Assembly, Kejriwal had taunted at Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that he will campaign for the BJP in the next year’s Lok Sabha polls if the latter granted Delhi the status of full state.
He said, “I want to say to BJP, give full statehood status to Delhi before Lok Sabha polls, every vote of people will go in favour of BJP and we (AAP) will campaign for them in Lok Sabha election.”
“But, if they (BJP) do not give full statehood to Delhi, people here will say that BJP walon, Delhi chodo (BJP, quit Delhi),” he added.
He also warned that if the Modi government failed to do so, the party would conduct a “BJP, quit Delhi” campaign.
