New Delhi: A political slugfest involving the ruling AAP and opposition BJP and Congress ensued over Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his cabinet colleagues sit-in that continued on Tuesday at the L-G office here. The BJP and the Congress slammed Kejriwal, terming his 'dharna' at the L-G office a "mockery of democracy" and a "drama". Leaders and workers of the AAP gathered at Kejriwal's residence to extend support to their leader and said a march will be taken out from the CM House to the Lt Governor (L-G) office on Wednesday by the party's MPs and MLAs. AAP legislators held a meeting in the evening to discuss their future course of action in view of the continuing sit-in by their leaders. "A march will be taken out by AAP MLAs and workers from the CM House to the L-G office at 4 pm tomorrow," party leader Pankaj Gupta said after the meeting. The police have heavily barricaded the road leading to the L-G office where Kejriwal and his colleagues stay put. The AAP leaders and workers will protest there after the march. Kejriwal has raised three demands before L-G Anil Baijal seeking his direction to end the "strike" by IAS officers, punishment to officers who have struck work and approval to his government's doorstep ration delivery scheme. 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 (prime minister), the Lt Governor has crippled the Delhi government. We will not keep quiet now and fight till the end," Singh asserted. Delhi AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj said IAS officers of Delhi were on a strike although they denied it in a press statement yesterday. Citing rules, he said 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 the rules do not permit it," he said. Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari alleged that Kejriwal was creating an "illusion" like he did in 2013 in view of the approaching Lok Sabha elections. "Making mockery of Democracy, No Work only Drama (sic)," Tiwari tweeted. The Delhi BJP will stage a protest at Chief Minister Kejriwal's residence tomorrow over the water crisis faced by the people in Delhi, he said. President of Delhi Congress Ajay Maken also sought to corner Kejriwal, saying the AAP leader was unable to exercise his existing powers and was creating "drama" over the so-called strike by IAS officers and full statehood. "Is it not Kaliyug, that a chief minister whose attendance in the Delhi assembly is just 10 percent and who does not go to his office is complaining of non-cooperation of IAS officers," Maken told reporters. Kejriwal and his party "lack" ideology that is why he said he will campaign for the BJP if more powers are given to the Delhi government, he alleged. "This proves our contention reiterated by us that both the parties are hand in glove and the AAP is the B team of the BJP," Maken said. He also slammed the Kejriwal government for raising questions on 18 issues, including those related to education, health and water supply, and alleged that it has "failed" on these despite requiring no additional power or sanction from the Centre.<doc-sep>Hundreds of AAP supporters marched towards LG’s house on Wednesday. (AAP Twitter) Hundreds of AAP supporters marched towards LG’s house on Wednesday. (AAP Twitter) A large number of AAP leaders and workers protested outside LG’s house on Wednesday, even as Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his cabinet colleagues continued with their sit-in at Anil Baijal’s office for the third straight day. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia also began an indefinite hunger strike today. Earlier, on Tuesday, Health Minister Satyendar Jain had launched an indefinite hunger strike. Kejriwal, along with Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain and Gopal Rai have been staging a sit-in at the LG’s office since Monday to protest against agitating IAS officials and to get an approval for the doorstep ration delivery scheme. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also came in support of Delhi Chief Minister today, appealing LG Anil Baijal and Modi government to resolve the issue. “We are not sitting here for ourselves. We are sitting here for the people of Delhi, for schools, water, mohalla clinics, so that the people of Delhi get the facilities,” Kejriwal said in a video message from LG’s office. In photos | Kejriwal’s sit-in protest at Lieutenant Governor’s office has now entered its third day Meanwhile, the BJP and Congress slammed Kejriwal, terming his ‘dharna’ at the L-G office a “mockery of democracy” and a “drama”. Raising the water shortage issue in the city, BJP’s Delhi unit also staged a protest at Kejriwal’s residence today.<doc-sep>Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on dharna at the LG’s office. (Express photo) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on dharna at the LG’s office. (Express photo) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his ‘dharna politics’ is back with the latest sit-in at Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal’s office entering the fourth day on Thursday. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has been staging a protest over a rift between the IAS officers and the Delhi government over an alleged assault on Delhi Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash. Many criticise Kejriwal for ignoring the work at the CM office and sitting on a dharna, which appears unusual for a chief minister. However, he is not the first chief minister to do so. There are several others who resorted to sit-in while in the hot seat. -In 1982, then Tamil Nadu chief minister MG Ramachandran observed a day-long fast Anna samadhi at Marina Beach, to protest against the Indira Gandhi-led government’s refusal to allocate more rice to his state from the central reserve. Ramachandran’s government had introduced the midday meal scheme for school children which had put a huge strain on the state’s pool. A furious Gandhi later announced more rice for Tamil Nadu, forcing the leader to wrap up his fast at the end of the day. -Former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa undertook a four-day hunger strike near the MGR memorial at Chennai’s Marina beach in 1993 after Karnataka refused to share 250 tmc of Cauvery water, as per the 1991-direction given by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, with its neighbour. The AIADMK’s protest turned into a huge show after hundreds of workers from across the state arrived at the spot to extend their support to the party supremo. Medical bulletins were issued at regular intervals by the state health secretary. It was not until Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao sent his Cabinet colleague and Union Water Resources Minister V.C. Shukla to Chennai and assured her that the Centre would set up two committees to ensure the implementation of the directive that she ended her fast. -In 2014, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan hit out at the then UPA-led government at the Centre against its “apathy” towards farmers hit by unseasonable rain and hailstorm in several parts of the state. While criticising the government for not providing any relief to the loss caused to soybean crops, not purchasing gram crop on minimum support price and also not recognising the state as basmati rice-producing region, Chouhan had said, “Our entire Cabinet would go to Delhi to apprise the Union government about the current situation.” The CM also alleged that the Centre was working at the behest of the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) and also because of Pakistan’s opposition to the move. “APEDA has joined hands with Pakistan for doing injustice to the farmers of Madhya Pradesh,” he alleged. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief Chandrababu Naidu at the hunger strike. (ANI) -In April this year, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu held a day-long fast in Amaravati to pressurise the Centre to grant Special Category Status to the state. The CM launched the ‘Dharma Porata Deeksha’ hunger strike at Indira Gandhi Municipal Stadium in Vijayawada. The Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party has been at loggerheads with the BJP-led government at the Centre ever since the announcement of the Union budget. TDP leaders claimed that it was perhaps for the first time in the history of the country that the CM of a state decided to go on fast on his birthday.<doc-sep>AAP workers march from CM Kejriwal’s residence to the office of L-G Baijal in New Delhi, Wednesday. (Photo: Gajendra Yadav) AAP workers march from CM Kejriwal’s residence to the office of L-G Baijal in New Delhi, Wednesday. (Photo: Gajendra Yadav) The sit-in protest at Raj Niwas by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his cabinet colleagues entered its fourth day on Thursday as several Aam Aadmi Party leaders marched to LG Anil Baijal’s residence and chanted slogans such as “LG sahab, Delhi Chhodo (LG, quit Delhi)”. The party has planned to hold a candlelight march at Raj Ghat to keep the momentum going. In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kejriwal alleged that Baijal is doing “nothing” to break the impasse despite repeated requests from the party and sought the PM’s intervention in the case. Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan also wrote a letter to the PM later in the day, asking for the same. The Delhi High Court, on the other hand, agreed to hear on June 18 a plea seeking to declare the sit-in by the CM and his cabinet colleagues as unconstitutional and illegal. The petition was mentioned before Justice C Hari Shankar who said that it be listed for hearing on Monday. The plea filed by petitioner Hari Nath Ram sought direction for discharging the chief ministerial obligations and responsibilities as the entire functioning of the Chief Minister office of National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi has been brought to a “stand still” since the sit-in started. Meanwhile, several regional parties, including the Trinamool Congress, backed the Kejriwal-led protest. Appealing the Centre to resolve the crisis immediately, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted, “Elected Chief Minister must get due respect. May I appeal to the government of India and the LG to resolve the problem immediately so that people do not suffer.” Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) leader Jayant Chaudhary also called the situation in Delhi a “governance failure”. Former BJP leader Yashwant Sinha also joined the AAP workers during their protest on Tuesday. “Had Atal Bihari Vajpayee been the PM, he would have ordered the Home Minister to open a dialogue with the elected CM,” Sinha said. Read | No pollution meeting as bureaucrats on strike: Kejriwal seeks PM Modi’s intervention<doc-sep>
Members of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Delhi unit on Wednesday sat on a dharna at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s office to protest against the alleged “non-performance” of his government. Rebel Aam Aadmi Party legislator Kapil Mishra also accompanied them. Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta and MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa said the sit-in would continue until the Kejriwal government fulfilled their demands, PTI reported. “Until the chief minister assures to provide water to the people, we will continue our protest,” Gupta said. “We have asked people to reach the chief minister’s office to raise the problem of water supply.” Kejriwal, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and ministers Satyendar Jain and Gopal Rai have been sitting at Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal’s office for the last two days in protest against a strike by the state’s bureaucrats. Jain also began an indefinite hunger strike on Tuesday morning. Meanwhile, former BJP leader Yashwant Sinha joined AAP leaders in their march to the Lieutenant Governor’s office. “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, a former Union minister, said, according to PTI. “It would be better for the country if a solution to the crisis in Delhi is found at the earliest.” Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh said if the bureaucrats give a written assurance that they will end their strike and return to work, the party will appeal the chief minister and other ministers to end their sit-in at Baijal’s office. Singh, a Rajya Sabha MP, said the party will take out a candle light march on Thursday. Earlier on Wednesday, BJP workers led by the party’s Delhi unit chief Manoj Tiwari protested at the Delhi Secretariat against the government’s failure to address water and electricity shortages. On Tuesday, Tiwari had labelled Kejriwal’s protest as a “mockery of democracy” and accused him and his ministers of “arm twisting” the lieutenant governor.