Before calling off the protest, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Cabinet colleagues had rounds of meeting in Krishi Bhavan and Press Club on the second day of the protest at Rail Bhavan. The first indications of a possible breakthrough came when a senior AAP leader reportedly had a telephonic conversation with the Delhi lt-Governor and the contours of an agreement surfaced.
Top AAP leaders comprising the Political Affairs Committee again met at the nearby Press Club possibly to reach a decision regarding the dharna later in the evening. After the hour-long meeting, Kejriwal returned to the dharna site around 7.30 pm and addressed his supporters and made the announcement to end the stir.
Earlier, Kejriwal along with his six Cabinet colleagues and scores of supporters spent Monday night outside Rail Bhavan, braving the chill. At 11.30 pm Kejriwal slept on the road under the open sky while some of his supporters spent the night singing and raising slogans around a bonfire. Some AAP workers were seen covering themselves with huge vinyl party posters to protect themselves from the rain. The party supplied blankets and food to the protesters on both days. Seven people, including a 51-year-old woman, were rushed to Ram Manohar lohia Hospital in the party’s very own ambulance. A group of doctors and paramedics remained busy providing first-aid to the supporters.
In an open attack on Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, Kejriwal in the morning had said, “We will continue our protest. How can Shinde sleep when so many crimes are happening in DelhiIJ We won’t negotiate,” said Kejriwal. Criticising Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, Kejriwal said the Union Minister had ‘suspended’ a number of policemen after some people barged into his residence a few months back but no action is taken if women are harassed. Saying that the safety of women in the Capital is not a matter of negotiation, he added, “The people protesting here are not Pakistanis or Americans. They are our own people.”
He also threatened to flood Rajpath with lakhs of supporters resulting in a possible disruption of the Republic Day celebrations. Questioning the Delhi Police’s advice to them to shift their protest to Jantar Mantar, he reacted, “Who is Shinde to tell me where to protest and where not toIJ I am the Chief Minister of Delhi and I have the right to decide.”
On the defensive, Kejriwal further lambasted on the Union Home Minister for the inconvenience caused to people due to closing down of a number of Metro stations around Central Delhi. “Shinde has closed the Metro stations. I had told DMRC officials to run the Metro. They said they cannot do it as Delhi Police has closed them. Shinde is causing inconvenience not only to us but also to the general public. He has closed the Metro stations,” he said. Kejriwal was also accompanied by his wife during the sit-in on Tuesday.