Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today said he and other members of the cabinet will continue their protest till their demands are met. He began a 10-day dharna today in New Delhi demanding suspension of a few police personnel for alleged dereliction of duty. Kejriwal said he will run the administration from the dharna site if needed and Central Government will be responsible for any constitutional crisis.
Kejriwal and his cabinet colleagues initially wanted to stage a dharna outside Home Ministry, however, his cavalcade heading towards Rajpath was stopped near the Rail Bhawan.
The Aam Aadmi Party chief has also requested people of Delhi to join him in his protest sit-in. Meanwhile, clashes were reported between AAP volunteers and the Delhi Police after more people came to join the dharna. Delhi Transport Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj was also detained by police but was released later.
Meanwhile, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde ruled out any action against Delhi Police Personnel till an inquiry which has been ordered by Lt Governor is complete. Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a function in New Delhi, Mr. Shinde asked the Chief Minister to maintain dignity of the office he holds. The Home Minister also made it clear that the Centre would not bring Delhi Police under the Delhi Government.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari charged the Aam Admi Party, AAP with resorting to gimmickry alleging that they know that they will not be able to fulfill the promises made by them. Mr. Tewari also alleged that AAP supporters tried to heckle him when he was passing through the dharna site. He said that AAP is not given a mandate by the people of Delhi to create anarchy and it is high time AAP makes the transition from being agitators to administrators.
BJP has termed Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s agitation on the demand of action against police officers as anarchic. Talking to reporters in New Delhi today, party spokesperson, Nirmala Sitharaman said the issues being flagged by AAP are important but the way the party has adopted is not acceptable. She said that AAP cannot bring Delhi administration on the streets.
Congress criticized Kejriwal for trying to protect his ministers who took the law into their hands. Party Delhi Unit chief Arvinder Singh Lovely told reporters that executive agencies can not misuse law and there is a difference between running a government and holding an agitation.
Kejriwal’s protest led to massive traffic jams in and around Central Delhi. Leave of all Delhi Police personnel has also been cancelled in view of agitation.
Members of the Mahila Congress in the meantime held a protest outside the Delhi Police Headquarters demanding action against Delhi Law Minister Somnath Bharti’s alleged misbehaviour with African women.