The efforts by four non-BJP non-Congress Chief Ministers to impress upon the Centre to take steps to end the political crisis in Delhi met with a cold response from the Centre with Prime Minister Narendra Modi giving no assurance of his intervention in the matter.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, her Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan, Andhra Pradesh’s N Chandrababu Naidu and Karnataka’s HD Kumaraswamy had a meeting with Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh on the sidelines of the NITI Aayog Governing Council meeting and urged the Centre to resolve the issue.
“We raised the issue with the Prime Minister as well as the Home Minister. We told them that the deadlock should be resolved for the sake of the people. The Prime Minister did not say anything, but Rajnath Singh said that he would look into the matter. We said what we had to, now they have to sort it out. It is their matter now,” Banerjee said after the meeting.
The four Chief Minister had visited Arvind Kejriwal’s residence on Saturday night and met with his wife after they were denied permission by Delhi lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal to see the AAP leader and his three Cabinet colleagues sitting on dharna at Raj Niwas since Monday.
In addition to the four Chief Ministers, several other Opposition parties have expressed solidarity with the AAP. They include National Conference, RJD, DMK, etc. However, the Congress has continued to target Kejriwal, creating fissure in the Opposition rank on dealing with the Delhi crisis.
Even on Sunday, the Congress accused the Delhi Chief Minister of making the people of the national Capital suffer due to his “inflated ego”. Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken said Kejriwal should put an end to the crisis by expressing “regrets” to Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash, who was manhandled by AAP legislators at the Chief Minister’s residence during a late night meeting on February 19.
“Still remember the unabashed ‘apology’ radio ads by Kejriwal after his 49 days Government in 2014. Now-apology from Majithia, Jaitley, Sibbal...Why can’t he just offer regrets to the CS and govern Delhi the way he is constitutionally supposed toIJ Why should Delhi suffer his inflated ego (sic)IJ” Maken tweeted.
Soon after Maken’s statement, senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel met the TMC chief, indicating the Congress will be interested in being part of the Opposition coalition against the ruling BJP.
Former Delhi CM and Congress leader Sheila Dikshit had earlier said nobody could help Kejriwal if he does not understand the constitutional provisions regarding Delhi.
“If you do not understand the Constitution, what can anyone doIJ That is the bottom line. Delhi cannot become Kerala or Goa or Puducherry, which have different powers as per the Constitution,” she had told PTI.