A banner put up at Delhi Secretariat said Delhi Chief Minister is on leave
On Day 4 of the sit-in by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and three of his ministers at Lieutenant Governor's home, a host of leaders from various opposition parties pledged support to the protest, attacking the BJP-led government at the centre.
It came on a day a huge banner was hung from the top of the Delhi Secretariat building, mocking the protest by Mr Kejriwal. "There is no strike here. People of Delhi are on duty. The Chief Minister of Delhi is on leave," the banner read.
Mr Kejriwal reacted with shock, alleging that the "BJP has captured Delhi Secretariat".
"Absolutely shocking. How was it allowed? Who allowed this to happen? Where was Police, Security, Bureaucracy?" he tweeted.
Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav joined issue, saying it pointed to a situation "worse than the murder of democracy".
Targeting the BJP, Mr Yadav said "those who have captured democracy by force will capture people's homes tomorrow".
The Delhi government says many of its schemes for the public have been stalled as IAS officers have not been attending meetings called by ministers or taking their calls in protest against an alleged assault on Delhi's Chief Secretary earlier this year.
Mr Kejriwal and his cabinet colleagues met the Lieutenant Governor on Monday evening and have since been on dharna, demanding that he ask IAS officers to end their "strike".
CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury blamed the central government for what he called "using the office of the LG to obstruct" the Delhi government from discharging its constitutional duties.
"This is despicable. The Centre must abandon this course of confrontation right away", tweeted Mr Yechury.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav alleged that the BJP, a party that has not been in power in Delhi in the last 20 years, was taking "revenge on the people of Delhi".
In a letter to Delhi's Lieutenant Governor, the CPI said he "cannot stop the functioning of the elected government of Delhi on the advice of any political party in power".
Actor-politician Kamal Haasan, who launched his own political party earlier this year, said "interference" in the functioning of an elected government is unacceptable in a democracy.
"In fact what is happening in Delhi and in TN/Pondicherry are not too different. It is frustrating for people who want a change for the better", tweeted Mr Haasan.