Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's dharna (sit-in) at Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal's office entered the seventh day on Sunday. Kejriwal and his colleagues from AAP are protesting against bureaucrats refusal to meet Delhi ministers following an assault on Delhi secretary Anshu Prakash. Click here for live updates Auto refresh feeds Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy said, "We came here to show our support to the Delhi chief minister, and to save the democratic system in the country. We demand that the prime minister should intervene in the issue." Following Kumaraswamy's address, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan is now speaking to the media. He said, "We are in solidarity with Kejriwal. All democratic-thinking people are with the Delhi chief minister." She also said that there is a 'political crisis.' West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said, "Delhi has a population of about 2 crore. The functioning of the state has been stopped for the last four months, and this is unfortunate. The Centre should not cross the line." 'If Delhi is in such a condition, what will happen to the rest of the country? ': Mamata Banerjee The West Bengal chief minister said that the four chief ministers had been waiting for three to four hours to meet Kejriwal. "We made appeals and requests, but to no avail," she said. Mamata says four CMs waited for 3-4 hours to meet Kejriwal While Naidu, Kumaraswamy and Vijayan spoke to the media for a short while, Mamata Banerjee had a detailed interaction and took several questions. CNN-News18 reports that the four chief ministers will not meet Arvind Kejriwal today. People will assemble at Mandi House at 4 pm and march to the PMO under the party banner to support Kejriwal and his ministers' sit-in. Accusing the Centre of misusing its powers to stop Delhi government from working, AAP said it would lead a massive protest march to the Prime Minister's Office on Sunday evening. The meeting comes a day after Mamata Banerjee, HD Kumaraswamy, N Chandrababu Naidu and Pinarayi Vijayan came out in support of Arvind Kejriwal. A crucial meeting of the NITI Aayog may turn out to be a platform for yet another show of strength by the Opposition as four non-NDA, non-Congress chief ministers may corner Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Delhi deadlock, according to News18. The prime minister added that the Governing Council has approached complex issues of governance as "Team India", in the spirit of cooperative, competitive federalism. He described the smooth rollout and implementation of GST as a prime example of this. Narendra Modi today delivered the opening remarks at the fourth meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog. He said that the Governing Council is a platform that can bring about "historic change." At NITI Aayog, Modi says Governing Council approached complex issues of governance as 'Team India' After Arvind Kejriwal slammed Delhi L-G following reports that he has gone to the NITI Aayog meet, Amitabh Kant clarified that Anil Baijal is not present at the meeting. Senior BJP leader Vijay Goel said the four leaders "are in the national capital to attend the NITI Aayog meeting and not to do politics. It doesn't suit them". Criticising the decision of four non-NDA chief ministers to extend support to Kejriwal, the BJP has questioned why they did not object to the assault on Delhi chief secretary Anshu Prakash. Metro station restrictions are also in place. No entry/exit will be available at Lok Kalyan Marg metro station on Sunday from 12 pm onwards till further directions. In view of AAP's plan to lead a protest march to the Prime Minister's Office on Sunday evening, police personnel will be deployed on various routes leading to the PMO, a police offiicial told The Indian Express . At the time of protest, the exit gates at Udyog Bhawan, Lok Kalyan Marg, Patel Chowk and Central Secretariat will be closed, Madhur Verma, DCP New Delhi, told ANI. Metro restrictions in place as AAP plans to march to PMO Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said he has not "authorised" L-G Anil Baijal to attend the NITI Aayog meeting in his place after a report claimed the presence of the Constitutional head at the meeting. However, NITI Aayog Chief Executive Officer Amitabh Kant described the report as "totally incorrect". Delhi Metro will keep its Lok Kalyan Marg station shut on Sunday as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is set to march to the Prime Minister's residence located nearby. "As advised by police, no entry or exit will be available at Lok Kalyan Marg station (from 12 pm)," the DMRC said. - IANS AAP leader Arunoday Prakash said that Arvind Kejriwal, Satyendar Jain, Manish Sisodia and Gopal Rai will not participate in Sunday's protest march. They will continue the sit-in protest at L-G office, he added. "Those who are not listening to the elected chief minister will never listen to a common man ever. This is a beginning of dictatorship and an attempt to end democracy. Our fight is to save the Constitution. It is an undeclared Emergency," Rai told IANS. Accusing the Narendra Modi government of not paying attention to Delhi's elected government, Delhi Cabinet minister Gopal Rai said such a regime will never listen to the common man and dubbed the current situation an "undeclared Emergency". 11 Balmiki and Safai Karamchari organisations have pledged their support to Kejriwal's demand for full statehood for Delhi. Manual scavenging is a caste-based occupation and the major social organisations centred on cleanliness have pledged their support to Kejriwal. The AAP is holding the march to support the sit-in of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his cabinet colleagues at the lieutenant governor's office for the last six days demanding him to direct IAS officers to end their "strike". - PTI Hours before the Aam Aadmi Party's protest march to the prime minister's residence, the Delhi Police said no permission was sought for it, even as AAP leaders alleged that party supporters were being prevented from taking part in the rally. "Police has got several metro stations closed down.<doc-sep>Arvind Kejriwal, whose sit-in protest at the Lieutenant Governor's house has crossed 48 hours, told NDTV, "I am fighting for the people of Delhi against those who have stopped the public services. You can say this "dharna" (protest) is my surgical strike against those who want to punish the voters of Delhi". His government contends that Delhi's IAS officers have not been attending meetings with ministers or picking up their calls since the alleged assault on Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash in February. The government says the "strike" has affected many initiatives, including setting up of mohalla clinics, building of drains and release of funds to private schools. In a statement, Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal's office backed the IAS officers, saying they have been working as usual and the onus was on Mr Kejriwal and his ministers to improve the relationship with bureaucrats. Mr Kejriwal accuses the Centre of trying to control the Delhi government through the Lieutenant-Governor. The IAS officers have dismissed the government's accusation as "baseless". But in a communique, they admitted that the officers are "not attending routine meetings called by the ministers and the CM". Mr Kejriwal has informed the Lieutenant Governor that if the officers did not end the strike, the Delhi government will be forced to impose ESMA - a law to punish those who disrupt essential services. Since morning, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia joined cabinet colleague and fellow protester Satyendar Jain in an indefinite fast. Mr Kejriwal's party says it has the support of many opposition parties. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today tweeted in his support. "@ArvindKejriwal, CM of Delhi is sitting in a dharna in LG's office for the last few days in the capital city of the country. Elected CM must get due respect," Ms Banerjee tweeted. The BJP, which said Mr Kejriwal's protest was "drama" and ploy to shirk work, held a rally to his house today to flag power and water scarcity in Delhi. The Congress -- which is at loggerheads with AAP in Delhi despite its concerns about a united front against the BJP in 2019 -- has also vehemently criticized the Chief Minister. Mr Kejriwal and his ministers went to meet Mr Baijal on Monday evening, asking that he help end the stand-off between Delhi's bureaucrats and the government and give clearance to a scheme for door-to-door delivery of rations for the poor. They started the sit-in protest when he refused.<doc-sep>Vijayan, Naidu, Banerjee and Kumaraswamy at Kejriwal’s residence in New Delhi on Saturday evening. Prem Nath Pandey Vijayan, Naidu, Banerjee and Kumaraswamy at Kejriwal’s residence in New Delhi on Saturday evening. Prem Nath Pandey Four non-Congress Opposition chief ministers on Saturday rallied behind Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in New Delhi, whose sit-in protest against Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal entered the sixth day. The chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Kerala and Karnataka urged the Centre to “rise above politics”, solve the “constitutional crisis” and not “restrict the federal system”. A day before the NITI Aayog meeting Sunday, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee joined hands with Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, Andhra CM N Chandrababu Naidu and Karnataka Chief Minister M Kumaraswamy to address a press conference at Kejriwal’s residence in New Delhi. They also said they would speak to Modi during tea at the NITI Aayog meeting and ask for the issue to be solved. The open support of four CMs for Kejriwal is also a significant signal for the Congress, which hopes to anchor the anti-BJP opposition at the national level. So far, the Congress has been critical of the AAP and Kejriwal’s sit-in protest in New Delhi, where it hopes to make a political comeback. READ | March to PM Modi’s office today, security upped Before arriving at Kejriwal’s residence Saturday evening, the four CMs were not given permission to meet either the Delhi CM or Lt Governor and sources said that they were discussing the NITI Aayog meeting, the ongoing situation at Delhi and the upcoming elections for the deputy chairperson for the Rajya Sabha, a post that will be vacated on June 30. All the four CMs at Arvind Kejriwal’s residence on Sunday. (Twitter/@AamAadmiParty) All the four CMs at Arvind Kejriwal’s residence on Sunday. (Twitter/@AamAadmiParty) “The TMC is likely to float a candidate and will look for support from other parties. This is usually a seat that goes with the Opposition. But this time, there is an effort to send a non-Congress, non-BJP leader to the post,” said a source. Banerjee demanding that the Centre give respect to the mandate given by Delhi’s citizens, “This is a constitutional crisis. But there should never be such crisis due to which a government and the common people have to suffer… there are two crore people in Delhi… L-G is the appointed leader, if not he then to with who will one to go to seek time and talk?” she said. Asked about the absence of support from the Congress, which has attacked Kejriwal’s protest as an attempt to obscure the AAP failures, Banerjee said, “I do not know, because the Congress has its own existence in Delhi and it doesn’t want any other party to come into power. That is their problem.” Stating that the stalemate needed to end, Banerjee said, “Today is Eid. Time is precious for us. If any chief minister is facing any problem in any state – whether opposition or from the BJP – we will be there. There is a need to rise above politics.” Following the press conference, Kejriwal said on Twitter: “The people of Delhi will ever be grateful to you sirs (the four CMs). We all will work together to save democracy. Thank you so much.” Naidu, who recently left the NDA coalition, said: “The demand is clear – they have to sort out the issue immediately and allow the elected government to function smoothly. Should the Centre or L-G create problems for the elected government, then governance will be a problem.” Vijayan added that any “democratically thinking” citizen would support Kejriwal. He said, “The attitude of the Centre is why this has happened. Our central government is destroying the federal system. That is the main threat.” While Banerjee, Vijayan and Naidu are CM’s who AAP has been in touch with, sources confirmed that Kumaraswamy had only recently established contact with Kejriwal. “We came to support the Delhi CM, save the democratic system. We demand that the PM should interfere in the issue and take steps to solve the problem. The Central government must immediately resolve the problem,” Kumaraswamy said. While Kumaraswamy, whose government in Karnataka depends on Congress support, has used this opportunity to send a signal to the Congress of its autonomy at the national level, the coming together of four CMs, holds significance in the wake of political realignment at the national level against the ruling BJP. The unity on display Saturday also signals TMC chief Mamata Banerjee’s strong position against the Congress’s claim to lead the Opposition against the BJP at the national level. Her decision to join a chief minister of a state (Kerala) ruled by CPM, which is pitted in a bitter battle against the TMC in West Bengal underscored her message to the Congress.<doc-sep>Delhi’s administration has come to a grinding halt in the midst of a standoff between the government and the bureaucracy, and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is playing out at the lieutenant-governor’s office, the state secretariat and on the streets of the national Capital. While chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday continued his three-day-old sit-in protest at L-G Anil Baijal’s office, AAP leaders staged a protest march from the CM’s residence to the L-G’s office for which they collected supporters from across Delhi’’s 70 assembly constituencies. The BJP staged a counter-protest by laying siege to Kejriwal’s office at the secretariat, demanding that the chief minister and four Cabinet ministers end his “dharna politics”. At the same time, bureaucrats continued with their own three-month-long protest, in which they are slowing down work and avoiding meetings with ministers after chief secretary Anshu Prakash was allegedly assualted at Kejriwal’s residence in February. In the middle of these dharnas and protests, which have left no time for administration, residents from several areas reported facing hardships, including up to eight-hour-long power outages in Uttam Nagar, Jungpura and Dwarka, and continued water shortage in outer Delhi over a dispute with Haryana. Officials in the CM office said that the weekly cabinet meeting scheduled for Tuesday had still not taken place. It was first moved to Wednesday and has now been postponed indefinitely. One official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Cabinet meetings hadn’t taken place for two weeks over some issue or the other. Delhi has a total of seven ministers. Four of them -- Kejriwal, deputy CM Manish Sisodia, public works department (PWD) minister Satyendar Jain and development minister Gopal Rai -- have been camped at Raj Niwas since Monday. The other two, transport minister Kailash Gehlot and social welfare minister Rajendra Pal Gautam, have also been spotted walking in and out of the waiting area at the L-G’s office. Kejriwal justified the dharna on Wednesday by saying that the move was aimed at resolving the bureaucracy versus Delhi government impasse, which he said, was orchestrated by the L-G at the behest of the Centre. “Aren’t IAS officers merely tools being used by (Narendra) Modi government to scuttle the good work done by Del govt (sic)? Is it possible for IAS officers to return to work without green signal from PMO?” Kejriwal tweeted. Following the footsteps of home minister Satyendar Jain, who said on Tuesday that he was on an indefinite hunger strike until the L-G agreed to the government’s demands, Sisodia also announced he would go on a fast until Baijal declared the “strike” by bureaucrats illegal and took action against them. Their other demand is that the L-G clears the doorstep delivery of rations. Baijal’ and his office declined to comment. AAP leaders led a major protest march, which, according to the police was joined by about 1,500 supporters, and according to them more than 3,000. It was joined by former BJP leader Yashwant Sinha. “If former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee were there, he would have directed the home minister to find a solution to the crisis, but the present dispensation is sleeping,” Sinha said to the protesting crowd. Earlier in the day, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha had visited the CM’s house to show support to the party. AAP leader Sanjay Singh said the party would lead a candle-light march on Thursday. He also told the L-G he would lead a protest to the Prime Minister’s Office on Sunday if the matter is not resolved by then. The BJP team protesting outside Kejriwal’s office included west Delhi MP Parvesh Verma, leader of the Opposition in the Delhi assembly Vijender Gupta, legislators Manjinder Singh Sirsa, Jagdish Pradhan and rebel AAP leader Kapil Mishra. “We are not going to budge until the CM does not give assurance for adequate water supply. Our sit-in will continue. Kejriwal has overall failed the people, especially youth who are dejected due to poor conditions in schools, lack of colleges and sporting facilities. People of Delhi will ensure total rout of Kejriwal party both in 2019 and 2020 elections,” MP Parvesh Verma said. The BJP leaders sat in Kejriwal’s waiting room -- and photos of them sitting on sofas surfaced on social media, just as Kejriwal and his colleagues‘ photos at the L-G’s office had surfaced on Tuesday. With Lok Sabha elections to be held next year and assembly elections scheduled for 2020, experts raised concerns that Delhi would be at the centre of more such protests in the run up to the elections. “What is happening is definitely not healthy when it comes to governance in Delhi. This is a perfect example of playing politics, not just for Kejriwal and AAP. But even the BJP is doing the same. In all this, Congress is completely sidelined. Delhi is seeing a huge prestige battle. Everyone from the bureaucrats to the AAP government, to the L-G, to the BJP – all are stuck on prestige. In all of this, Delhiites are the biggest victims,” said Sanjay Kumar, director, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies.<doc-sep>
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has the support of several regional parties, but the BJP and Congress criticised the AAP dharna. Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal and three of his ministers have been on a sit-in protest at the office of Lietenant-Governor of Delhi Anil Baijal for the past week, but it was on Sunday that the movement saw the most momentum — the chief ministers of four states came out in support of the Aam Aadmi Party’s protest, urging both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh to intervene and resolve the crisis. Buoyed by their backing, AAP organised a massive march from Mandi House to the prime minister’s official home. Thousands of supporters participated in the demonstration, but the Delhi Police stopped their progress at Parliament Street — they did not have permission to hold the rally — and AAP soon called off the protest for the day. The unprecedented situation in Delhi began with the AAP leaders accusing Indian Administrative (IAS) officers of being on strike for months, since the alleged assault on chief secretary Anshu Prakash in February. The Kejriwal government claimed that IAS officers had not been attending meetings called by ministers in protest against the alleged assault, which had stalled schemes for the public. In their protest, the chief minister and his colleagues have been demanding that Baijal meet them and order the IAS officers to return to work. Mamata Banerjee’s strong backing Of all the political leaders who have voiced their support for the AAP dharna so far, Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee has been the most articulate in its criticism of the crisis in Delhi. Ever an avid BJP critic, she led a press conference on Saturday night, along with the chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala, to demand an end to the turmoil in the Delhi government and highlight the risk BJP poses to federalism with its strong-arm politics. Such was the reaction to her support for Kejriwal and his dharna that the Congress was compelled to reach out to her. Believed to be at the behest of former party president Sonia Gandhi, Congress leader Ahmed Patel met the Trinamool Congress chief. It was likely that they discussed the current state of federalism in India and what could be done to protect it from the risks it faces from the ruling saffron party. The meeting was arranged even though the Congress has refused to support the AAP strike. Senior leader and former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit called the protest at the L-G’s office an "excuse" to avoid work. Calling it "completely unacceptable", she said, "The people of Delhi are very disappointed because they brought him (to power) with a huge majority, and this is how he is treating them." It would be significant to note the stark difference of opinion between the Congress and its ally in Karnataka, the Janata Dal (Secular), which is led by Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy. Kumaraswamy had joined Banerjee at the press conference on Saturday to show his support for AAP’s cause. Growing support for AAP protest In its power tussle with the lieutenant governor and the BJP, Kejriwal and his government has garnered the backing of several regional parties, even as the L-G’s office continues to stay mum on the crisis. Working president of the DMK MK Stalin said on Twitter what many are sure to have been thinking the past week: "I am concerned with the disdain shown by Lt. Gov. of Delhi towards an elected Chief Minister like @ArvindKejriwal. The BJP is proactively destroying the federal structure of this nation.” AAP has been at loggerheads with the two L-Gs Delhi has had since the party came to power. It has always maintained that the BJP uses the administrative head as a tool to hamper development in the national capital and thwart the Delhi government’s work. On Monday, Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) — a member of the BJP-led ruling National Democratic Alliance — became the latest to join the Kejriwal bandwagon. He said that those backing the IAS officers’ strike “can reap political benefits” and also warned of how such immediate political benefits would harm democracy. Rebel senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha went a step further to extend his support to Kejriwal. In an article for NDTV, he wrote that the BJP was still “punishing” AAP for “comprehensively defeating” the saffron party in the Delhi Assembly elections in 2015.