After L-G office, Aam Aadmi Party threatens to hold dharna outside PMO

Aam Aadmi Party, whose chief Arvind Kejriwal along with his cabinet colleagues is sitting on dharna inside Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal’s office, has threatened to intensify their protest if their demands are not met by Sunday.

“If the strike by bureaucrats is not resolved by Sunday, then AAP leaders and workers would stage a dharna at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). On Thursday, party legislators and leaders will hold a candlelight march,” AAP leader Sanjay Singh said.

On Wednesday, rebel BJP leader Yashwant Sinha joined AAP's protest march from CM house to Lt Governor's office. Apart from Sinha, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also extended her support to Kejriwal.

"Elected Chief Minister must get due respect. May I appeal to the government of India and the LG to resolve the problem immediately so that people do not suffer," Banerjee tweeted.

Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia and two other ministers - Satyendar Jain and Gopal Rai – have been sitting on a dharna in the waiting area of Lt Governor’s office for the last four days.

On Monday, Kejriwal and team had gone to meet L-G Baijal with two key demands – action against IAS officers halting the work for the last four months and approval to a scheme for doorstep delivery of rations for the poor. 

The Lt Governor, however, refused to accept their demands, saying that the officials were not staging any protest and were going to their works regularly. Since then, the AAP leaders have been camping inside L-G’s office.

BREAKING: DY CM @msisodia writes to LG Baijal. Again requests him to intervene & end the strike of IAS officers in Delhi. Says only PM & LG can get the officers to end strike & return to work. Reminds LG of repeated promises he made over months to get the babus to end strike. pic.twitter.com/UJeY65jCeu

— Ankit Tyagi (@Ankit_Tyagi01) June 13, 2018

With no response coming from L-G’s office over their demands, Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia on Wednesday began an indefinite hunger strike. He joined his colleague Satyender Jain who sat on a hunger strike in Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Opposition BJP lawmakers, along with sacked AAP MLA Kapil Mishra, mimicking Kejriwal’s protest, sat on a dharna outside CM’s office.

BJP MLAs Vijender Gupta and Manjinder Singh Sirsa said that their protest would continue till their demands were met by the AAP government.

“Until the chief minister assures to provide water to the people, we will continue our sit-in,” Gupta, who is also the Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly, said, adding that their protest was against the “non-performance” of the Kejriwal government.