Arvind Kejriwal and his three ministers have been on protest at LG's house since Monday.
New Delhi:
Hours after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's appeal for Prime Minister's intervention in what he calls the Delhi bureaucrats' strike, Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal held a meeting to address the toxic-level pollution in Delhi. Environment Minister Imran Husaain claimed the meeting's timing clashed with one he scheduled at 3 pm. He eventually attended the meeting called by Mr Baijal in which a host of step were announced to tackle the deteriorating air quality. Mr Kejriwal, who is on Day 4 of his protest at Mr Bailjal's house, had written that no meeting on pollution control has been held in 3 months due to the "strike". His party plans to march to the PM's Office on Sunday if the situation is not resolved. A candle-light march was organized in the heart of Delhi this evening.
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In the letter sent today to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr Kejriwal said preparations for the monsoon -- cleaning of drains and measures for vector control to stop diseases like chikungunya -- has not been started because of the strike.
AAP leaders marched from the Chief Minister's house to the Lt Governor's residence, demanding action against IAS officer who they alleged were not cooperating with the government. In the evening, AAP leaders held a candlelight vigil at Raj Ghat.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia today wrote a letter to the Lt Governor seeking time to meet him. "We have been waiting for the last four days for your response", said Mr Sisodia.
Mr Kejriwal's party has questioned why no one was being allowed to meet him at the Lt Governor's residence. Mr Kejriwal tweeted this morning that his brother, who came from Pune, had not been allowed to meet him. Mr Kejriwal's wife tweeted saying she, her mother-in-law and the wives of Manish Sisodia and Satyender Jain --- two ministers who are on dharna --- waited for long but were not allowed to meet their family members.
Two of the protesters at LG's house, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, are continuing their indefinite fast. Mr Jain was monitored by doctors as his blood pressure dropped.
A group of BJP leaders has been on a tit-for-tat sit-down strike at the Chief Minister's office since yesterday, demanding Mr Kejriwal quit protest and attend to Delhi's power and water problems.
Mr Kejriwal's strike has received support across a wide section of opposition parties, including the Trinamool Congress, Ajit Singh's RLD, the RJD, the CPM and the CPI, and Tamil actor Kamal Haasan, who accused the BJP-led central government of creating hurdles in functioning of the Delhi government.
Mr Kejriwal and his ministers went to meet Mr Baijal on Monday evening, asking that he help end the stand-off between Delhi's IAS officers and the government and give clearance to a scheme for door-to-door delivery of rations for the poor.
Mr Kejriwal's government contends that Delhi's IAS officers have not been attending meetings with ministers or picking up their calls since the alleged assault on Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash in February.
The AAP government had serious differences with Mr Baijal on several issues and Mr Kejriwal accuses the Centre of trying to control the Delhi government through the Lieutenant-Governor. Mr Kejriwal's party has demanded that Delhi be given the status of a state, which would entitle it to control over the police and land.
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