Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday met Lt Governor Anil Baijal with the Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and two other ministers Gopal Rai and Satyendra Kumar Jain, and they decided to stay at his office demanding action against agitating IAS officials in Delhi.
In the pictures that are going viral, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his top brass have literally been caught napping during their “protest” at the Lt. Governor’s residence. Kejriwal tweeted:
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
After that, Lt Governor Baijal left his office for a pre-scheduled appointment, even as the Chief Minister and his three ministers stayed put in the waiting room of the office.
Meanwhile, earlier on Monday, Lt Governor Baijal slammed the sit-in by Kejriwal and his three cabinet colleagues, calling it another “dharna without reason” and alleged that he was “threatened” by the chief minister to summon officers at the Raj Niwas and urged them to end their “strike”.
Read the statement below:
In the meeting, the L-G was threatened by the CM who demanded that the officers should be immediately summoned at Raj Niwas and directions should be given to end the so-called strike.
In an unprecedented move that betrays little respect and dignity for constitutional offices, CM, deputy CM and the two ministers remained defiant and continued to pressurise that the officers must be immediately summoned to Raj Niwas and the so-called agitation’ be called off, and immediate approval of the proposal for doorstep delivery of rations be given.
In response, it was reiterated by L-G that there is no strike by employees and in his continued interactions with officers, it has been informed that the atmosphere of mistrust and fear continues and no sincere attempts to resolve the differences have been made so far.
Two wrongs never make a right. Since the CM and ministers refused to listen to this suggestion and as L-G had pre-scheduled appointments at his residence, he had no option but to leave the office”.
The unique form of “protest” by Kejriwal entailed him and his Ministers pledging to camp in Baijal’s waiting room until the L-G meets them with an acceptance of their wish list which includes action against IAS officers as well as a proposal for doorstep delivery of rations.
The genesis of Kejriwal’s present protest can be traced to the allegation that he has consistently made that IAS officers of Delhi had been on an “illegal strike” for four months.