AAP, Centre tussle intensifies

New Delhi, June 15: With the Centre deploying more police force near the Lt. Governor’s house, the AAP on Friday apprehended moves to break the four-day-old sit-in strike by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal even as his Deputy Manish Sisodia threatened to intensify their agitation. Rushing an ambulance along with a team of over 20 doctors added to panic in the AAP camp, which deputed its General Secretary Sanjay Singh to meet Home Minister Rajnath Singh in a bid to sort out the issue. After the meeting, Sanjay Singh claimed that the Centre had agreed to take up the current situation in Delhi with Lt. Governor Anil Baijal and find a solution to the row over governance. Rajnath Singh is likely to meet the Prime Minister to discuss the situation even as Kejriwal wrote to Modi seeking his intervention.

“The IAS officers in Delhi have been on strike for the last three months and this had badly affected several (administrative) works. In order to get this strike ended, my three ministers and I have been camping in the Lt Governor office for the last five days, but your Lt Governor is not taking any action”, Kejriwal wrote in the letter. He said since the IAS officers in the Delhi administration are directly under the Central government’s control, he had written to the Prime Minister on Thursday also over the issue but got no response. “The issues to be discussed in the NITI Aayog meet scheduled on June 17 will have to be executed by these IAS officers only... These IAS officers have been barred (by the Centre) to come to meetings called by Delhi Ministers. Tell me, will you be able to do any work if IAS officers stop coming to the meetings called by you?” Kejriwal said.

Sisodia released a video saying they are not going to end the fast until their demands are met. He warned the LG and the Prime Minister against doing any such thing, saying they will also stop taking water if taken away forcefully. (IANS)