Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain and Gopal Rai are protesting at Anil Baijal's residence
Highlights
- An impasse between AAP, Lt Governor Anil Baijal continues for sixth day
- Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal alleged "de facto" President's Rule
- Manish Sisodia, in a witty tweet, asked to meet Lt Governor over Eid
On the sixth day of
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's sit-in, an impasse between the Aam Aadmi Party and Lt Governor Anil Baijal over the IAS officers' "strike" continued. Mr Kejriwal, along with his colleagues, Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, health minister Satyendar Jain and development minister Gopal Rai stayed put at the Lt Governor's office. Mr Jain and Mr Sisodia started a hunger strike on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.
The Registered Medical Practitioners Federation has extended support to Mr Kejriwal. The federation has 12,500 members.
On Friday, Mr Kejriwal
wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the second time, asking for his intervention
to end the "strike", which according to Mr Kejriwal, has been going on for the past four months.
In a tweet, Mr Kejriwal also alleged a "
de facto President's rule in Delhi" as a result of the "strike".
In the letter, Mr Kejriwal also urged PM Modi to intervene so that he could attend a NITI Aayog meeting on Sunday.
AAP government's environment minister Imran Hussain alleged that the environment secretary did not attend a meeting on pollution. In a tweet from the Aam Aadmi Party's official Twitter handle, AAP leader Atishi Marlena alleged in a tweet that those civil servants who didn't attend meetings pertaining to health-related matters,
met BJP leaders to ask them whether they needed mattress-sheets.
However, the IAS officers' association has maintained that no officer is on "strike".
Mr Kejriwal had challenged PM Modi by asking him to work without the IAS officers attending his meetings.
"How do we work like this? Can Modi
ji try working like this even for a day? Can our critics kindly tell us how do we function like this? (sic)," Mr Kejriwal tweeted.
Mr Kejriwal has also wants PM Modi to approve AAP's proposal on doorstep delivery of rations.
Rebel BJP leader and actor Shatrughan Sinha tweeted his support to Mr Kejriwal in a series of tweets, calling him a "gentleman politician", saying that his
dharna "says it all". He also alleged that full statehood to Delhi had been a "very strong" demand of the BJP.
In one of the tweets, Mr Sinha referred to 'Roti' an old film by filmmaker Manmohan Desai, to say that the "public knows everything".
Mr Kejriwal tweeted Eid greetings early morning today. "Good morning Delhi.
Apko aur apke pariwar ko Eid mubarak (Eid
mubarak to you and your family)," he said in the tweet.
Manish Sisodia wished a happy Eid as well, but as a witty retort to the Lt Governor's snub to the AAP protest.
Mr Sisodia said on Friday that they would stop drinking water if they were forcibly removed from the Lt Governor's residence.
According to news agency Press Trust of India, the Lt Governor has created three teams of doctors to examine the health of the ministers. The Lt Governor has been working from his residence since Mr Kejriwal launched his protest.
The Delhi High Court will hear a plea which sought the Lt Governor to ensure that the bureaucrats' "strike" be called off so they perform their regular duties as public servants.
Meanwhile, another plea in the high court on Thursday sought to declare the AAP leaders' protest as unconstitutional and illegal.
This plea is listed for a hearing on June 18.
(With Inputs From PTI)