Arvind Kejriwal ends AAP sit-in at L-G house in Delhi

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday ended his strike at Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal's house, called against the alleged strike of IAS officers in the national capital.

The move came shortly after, the Delhi LG wrote to Kejriwal requesting him to urgently meet the officers in the Secretariat so that apprehensions and concerns of both sides can be suitably addressed through dialogue in the best interest of the Delhiites, according to a press release, released by Raj Niwas.

Earlier in the day, the Delhi CM dashed a fresh letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, berating him for not intervening in the crisis. 

"Ab toh gazab hi ho gaya! (Now this is getting ridiculous). My ministers and I have been sitting at Raj Niwas and waiting to meet the LG and the LG is not willing to meet us. Yeh toh ek ajooba hai (this is very peculiar). Nobody in the world will accept that he (LG) is doing this on his own," Kejriwal wrote in his three-page letter.

"Everyone is saying this is happening at your behest. I am an insignificant man. I have not come to meet him in a personal capacity but as the elected Chief Minister of the people. This is not an insult to me, but an insult to the people of Delhi. Is it not the Constitutional duty of the LG to meet an elected CM? By not meeting the CM, is the LG not indulging in dereliction of duty?" the letter went on to claim further.

#Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal ends his strike at Lieutenant Governor's house, called against alleged strike of IAS officers in #Delhi pic.twitter.com/kK5BsgeciK

— ANI (@ANI) June 19, 2018

Read | AAP Dharna: SC refuses urgent hearing of plea to declare Kejriwal's sit-in as unconstitutional

"Today, I cannot transfer an officer, I cannot suspend an erring officer or send a corrupt officer to jail. Why did you pass such an order? It is clear that your aim is to handicap the elected government of Delhi," the AAP leader accused.

Accusing PM Modi of using the L-G office to stall work of the AAP government, Kejriwal said, "After gaining independence, we chose a democratic system of government very carefully. In our system, people elect their own government and that government works according to the wishes of the people and is answerable only to the people. This democratic system will crumble if the central government stops state governments from doing their work on some pretext or the other. I request you, once more, to let us work for the people of Delhi and direct the LG to solve this crisis at the earliest. The people of Delhi will be grateful to you".

The Delhi CM, his deputy Manish Sisodia and other Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ministers, including Satyendra Jain and Gopal Rai on June 11 started a Dharna at L-G office demanding a direction to IAS officers to end their "strike" and action against officers who have struck work for "four months".

Read | AAP Dharna: On fast for six days, Manish Sisodia admitted to hospital

Post that, Kejriwal and his cabinet colleagues dug in their heels with Health Minister Satyendra Jain and Sisodia beginning an indefinite hunger strike to press for their demands. Their demands also include the implementation of AAP's ambitious doorstep ration delivery scheme in Delhi.