New Delhi: The Delhi deadlock between the Aam Aadmi Party government on one hand and the Lieutenant Governor and bureaucracy on the other, finally came to an end on Tuesday after lapsing the capital into crisis for an entire week. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Delhi Labour Minister Gopal Rai, who were still protesting at the L-G residence on Tuesday, finally left the premises and are set to resume work at Delhi Secretariat.
This comes after the IAS Association responded positively to Kejriwal's olive branch on Monday, assuring them of their safety and urging them to come back. On Tuesday, L-G Anil Baijal issued an urgent letter asking the chief minister to meet IAS officers at the Secretariat.
"Hon’ble L-G stated that he was glad that Hon’ble CM had tweeted an appeal to the officers assuring them of safety and security in their interactions with the elected government. Hon’ble L-G observed that he has been informed that the officers have also welcomed the appeal and they are awaiting Hon’ble CM’s presence in the Secretariat to hold discussions. As such, Hon’ble LG requested Hon’ble CM 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 people of Delhi," a Raj Niwas press release said on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Deputy CM Manish Sisodia addressed a press conference announcing Kejriwal's decision to end the protest.
"The officials, even those who had been skipping work earlier, have attended all meetings that were called today. Officers have started attending meetings again and even started responding to phone calls. Hopefully, the officers will continue coming to meetings after this as well," Sisodia said.
The conflict relates to the mistrust between the elected government and the bureaucracy and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government’s claim that IAS officers have been on “strike” for the last four months.
On June 11, the day he started his protest, Kejriwal accused the L-G, along with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), of being the architect of a bureaucratic rebellion within the Government of NCT of Delhi.
“For the last four months, bureaucrats in the Delhi government have been on strike. This is the first time in the history of India that there has been such dereliction of duty and open rebellion on part of the bureaucracy. What are their demands? Even they don’t know. If you ask them, they will not be able to clearly tell you what their demands are,” Kejriwal had told reporters at his residence.
On Saturday, Chief Ministers Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal, Chandrababu Naidu of Andhra Pradesh, HD Kumaraswamy of Karnataka and Pinarayi Vijayan of Kerala visited the Delhi CM’s residence at 6, Flagstaff Road. They met his family and addressed a joint press conference in support of Delhi’s demand for full statehood. This helped the AAP regain its lost mojo and the party launched an agitation against the Centre.
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