Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his three Cabinet colleagues continued their sit-in at the Lt Governor’s (LG) office on Saturday while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers are preparing for a mass agitation on Sunday.
A number of party MLAs and workers are preparing for the protest on Sunday at the Prime Minister’s residence if their demands were not met.
Kejriwal, along with Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Cabinet ministers Satyendar Jain and Gopal Rai, has been camping at the Raj Niwas — the official accommodation-cum-office of Lt Governor (LG) — since Monday evening.
They are demanding that the IAS officers working in the Delhi administration should end their undeclared strike, action against officers who have struck work for “four months” and approval to his government’s proposal for doorstep delivery of ration to the poor.
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The blood sugar level of Jain and Sisodia, who have been on an indefinite hunger strike, is constantly going down, according to doctors.
The Central government on Friday had assured its intervention in the ongoing stalemate between the Delhi Lieutenant Governor and the city government.
Senior AAP leader and MP Sanjay Singh after meeting Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said “Centre has agreed” to take up the current situation in Delhi with the LG and find out a solution to end the row over governance.
“I narrated to him the entire situation in Delhi and how IAS officers have been avoiding important government meetings during the past four months,” the Aam Aadmi Party leader told the media here.
“The Home Minister has promised that he will take up the matter with Lt Governor Anil Baijal and find a solution to the issue,” he said.
Kejriwal on Friday yet again urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to direct the IAS officers in the Delhi administration to end their strike before 17 June in order to enable him to attend the NITI Aayog meet.
Read More | On Day 5 of Kejriwal protest, Centre promises to step in to end deadlock
The party has planned for a door-to-door campaign starting from June 18 to collect signatures of at least 10-lakh families, which they will forward to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he has not responded to the demands yet.
Kejriwal’s protest has garnered support from West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and Bihar’s Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav, Union Minister Yashwant Sinha, Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav, actors-turned-politicians Kamal Hassan and Shatrughan Sinha.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) are also supporting the sit-in.
(With agency inputs)