In meetings, PM Modi neither talks to me nor looks at me, says Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is sitting on a dharna inside Lt Governor Anil Baijal's office, has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of ignoring him in the meetings and said that the representative of the national capital was not given an opportunity to speak.

“I have attended many meetings in which the PM is present, but he neither talks to me nor looks at me. In these meetings, the representative of Delhi is not given an opportunity to speak,” Kejriwal said in an interview with the Times of India.

Kejriwal, along with three other cabinet colleagues, is camping inside the office of Lt Governor at Raj Nivas for the last seven days demanding the “strike” by IAS officials be called off as it was hampering the work of Delhi government.

“The strike by IAS officers has stalled many important works concerning the people of Delhi. The IAS officers do not attend any meeting convened by ministers, they do not respond to phone calls of ministers, nor do they go on any field visits with ministers,” he told the English daily.

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The Delhi CM claimed that the strike of IAS officers was being instigated on the directions of Centre to destabilise his government in the national capital.

“On Friday, environment minister Imran Hussain had convened a meeting on tackling air pollution. The environment secretary and member secretary did not turn up. The officers’ strike has been instigated by the central government to paralyse the Delhi government,” Kejriwal added.