NEW DELHI: Upping the ante against the Centre, the Aam Aadmi Party staged a protest march from Mandi House in New Delhi to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence as the sit-in protest by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his three cabinet colleagues at Raj Niwas entered its seventh day on Sunday.
Thousands of AAP supporters and workers gathered outside the Mandi House Metro station as they shouted slogans against IAS officers and Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal and tried to march toward Lok Kalyan Marg.
AAP MP Sanjay Singh led the protest march and CPM’s Secretary General Sitaram Yechury joined the protest at Mandi House.
Hours before the protest march, the Delhi Police said no permission was sought for it, even as AAP leaders alleged that party supporters were being prevented from taking part in the rally.
The police imposed prohibitory orders in the residential areas. Exits of metro stations such as Patel Chowk, Udgyog Bhavan, Central Secretariat and Lok Kalyan Marg were also shut on orders of Delhi Police. “They don’t have permission (for protest march). They have been contained at the Parliament Street and are being told that they can’t go further,” DCP New Delhi said.
Meanwhile, in a Press conference on Sunday, IAS Association secretary Manisha Saxena said they were being victimised in a political battle. The officers said misinformation was being spread about them, even though they were “neutral” and were “answerable only to the law and the constitution”.
“We have been targeted and victimised and told that we are working with someone. We would like to inform that we are not on strike,” Saxena said. “We are attending meetings. All departments are doing their works. We, sometimes also work on holidays,” Saxena added.
The officers also denied the charge that the secretaries in the Delhi government are not answering the phone calls of ministers and MLAs.
Delhi CM has accused the Centre and the L-G of backing what he called the “strike” by the IAS officers. His government says work has been suffering for the last four months since the officers won’t meet ministers or attend their phone calls.
Kejriwal falls for ‘fake news’, Niti Aayog CEO corrects him
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal fell for fake news on social media that the Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal had attended a meeting of Niti Ayog held in the capital on Sunday.
The Niti Ayog CEO Amitabh Kant, however, was quick to point out that Kejriwal’s accusation against the LG was wrong.
The post Delhi CM quoted to make the accusation is no longer available on the social media site as well.