Unable to elicit any response from the Prime Minister to his letter written on Wednesday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday wrote another letter to Modi seeking his intervention to end the IAS officers’ “strike” even as he hit out at his detractors, saying the sit-in was “not for personal gains” but for “greater good of the people of Delhi”.
“I have again asked him (PM) to do something. It is not all right to have this strike be allowed. So, on Sunday, will go to the PM’s residence, lot of people of Delhi will go to his residence and appeal to him to get the strike cancelled,” he said.
Kejriwal, in his fresh video message (the fifth day of the sit-in) from the l-G office, also attacked the BJP, alleging the bureaucrats’ strike was to “throw roadblocks” in the working of the AAP Government.
“Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia wrote a letter to him (Anil Baijal) on Thursday and even sent a message on WhatsApp. But, no response from his side. We also got no response to the letter I wrote to the PM. So, again I wrote to the Prime Minister,” he said.
The latest letter by Kejriwal was in response to an invite to attend a meeting of NITI Aayog on Sunday. “I have asked the PM if in his meetings officers don’t show up, will he be able to run the Government for a dayIJ Then why have you allowed the strike of officers in Delhi. It is not good to bother people of Delhi,” Kejriwal said. In his earlier letter to the Prime Minister, Kejriwal had claimed that lt Governor Anil Baijal was doing “nothing” to end the impasse.
Kejriwal said, “The AAP Government has sought that the l-G direct the IAS officers to end their ‘strike’ and act against those who have struck work.”
Kejriwal hoped that the PM will ensure that the “strike” ends. “If not, then after Sunday we will go to every household. Our workers will reach out to 10 lakh households and collect signatures on a letter on this obstruction to the Delhi Government work and on the issue of full Statehood to Delhi.
These 10 lakh families will then agitate for full Statehood and against this strike of IAS officers,” he claimed.
“After meeting him on Monday evening, I had hoped that the l-G would say he had ordered end of the strike and ask us to go back home. I am surprised that it is the fifth day and he (Baijal) is not willing to have it ended,” Kejriwal alleged.
Hitting out at his detractors, who have questioned the motive behind the sit-in, he said, “I am not here for personal gains, and we are not having fun here. Some TV channels are labelling our protest as ‘AC-sofa ka dharna’. I want to ask, ‘Am I here for myself or to get jobs for my childrenIJ Is it for my own work. Is it easy to sleep on sofasIJ”
“We are here so that problems in opening of new schools, mohalla clinics and getting rations can be removed... People are asking about the pollution level. “Every 15 days, we used to have review meetings. The Environment Secretary has not been attending meeting of the Environment Minister in the last four months. If he doesn’t come, how should we work,” he said.
Kejriwal expressed apprehension that his deputy Manish Sisodia and Health Minister Satyendar Jain may be forced out of the l-G office, where they are staging a sit-in since Monday, after a team of doctors and medical staff reached there for their health check-up.
“Why r they planning to take them forcefullyIJ It is just 4 days. Both of them r fit. They r fighting for the people of Delhi (sic),” Kejriwal tweeted.
Also, Sisodia released a video from the l-G office and warned that if they are forcibly removed from the l-G Secretariat, they will stop drinking water too.
“Around 20-25 people have reached the l-G office. It seems that there is preparation to forcibly remove us. I want to warn Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the l-G and the police not to try to end our fast as we have been sitting on hunger strike here for the people of Delhi.
“Please focus on our demands. If we are forcibly removed, we will give up even water,” Sisodia said in the video.
A senior official said that Jain has lost a couple of kgs but there is “no need to hospitalise them as of now”. “A regular team, consisting of a doctor, a nurse and a helper, has been visiting to check on the health of the Ministers. This afternoon a team of specialists visited them,” he said.
A specialist team consists of a cardiologist, nephrologist, endocrinologist and the medical head of the lNJP Hospital, he said. “At 2.30 pm, his (Jain’s) vitals were checked and his sugar level was 57 units (mg/dl). His blood pressure reading was 98/64, while the pulse reading was 70.
“However, ketone level (more than 3 units) has been detected in his body. In a normal condition, ketone should not be found,” the official said. Asked about the condition of Sisodia, he said, “the Deputy Chief Minister is doing fine. There is no need to hospitalise them as of now.”