Fresh battle between AAP, Centre

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 20

Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash’s allegations of being manhandled by a bunch of ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs in the presence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia last night clearly indicated a renewed confrontation between the Kejriwal government and the BJP-led Centre; Lieutenant Governor office and the bureaucrats at the latter’s side.

The AAP dispensation today rubbished the allegations “absurd and politically-motivated”, hours before its Environment Minister Imran Hussain accompanied by party leader Ashish Khetan was mobbed by scores of officials and staff at the Delhi Secretariat prompting it in turn to allege the Centre was “using the government officials to destabilise the Delhi Government”.

It was utter chaos at the Secretariat with almost the entire work of the government coming to a standstill due to the developments the entire day.

Earlier, officials and staff of the government agitated over the Secretary’s allegations raised slogans and prevented Hussain from taking the elevator to his office. The police had to come to his rescue and escort him to his office on the sixth floor office.

Hussain later lodged a complaint with the IP Estate police station alleging that he was assaulted. The Kejriwal government also released a video showing Hussain being roughed up while his assistant Himanshu Singh assaulted by the protesting staff.

Agitating government staff gathered on the second floor of the Secretariat demanding that FIR be lodged against AAP MLAs for allegedly assaulting the Chief Secretary.

Prakash is understood to have been allegedly manhandled inside Kejriwal’s residence late last night while several AAP lawmakers, including AAP MLA Ajay Dutt, who also attended the meeting at the CM house yesterday, countered accusing Prakash of using “casteist” remarks against him and another MLA, Prakash Jarwal.

In an email to Commissioner of Police Amulya Patnaik, Dutt also alleged that Prakash “misbehaved” with him when he asked him about the complaints regarding ration distribution in his constituency (Ambedkar Nagar). Dutt demanded an FIR against the Chief Secretary.

AAP leaders want to meet HM

The AAP today countered the allegations by Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash by claiming the alleged attacks on its minister and staff at the Secretariat were orchestrated at the behest of the BJP.

The Kejriwal-led party has sought time for a meeting with Home Minister Rajnath Singh to discuss the matter but he is yet to grant it, AAP leader Ashish Khetan told reporters while hoping that Singh shows the same “promptness” in meeting the AAP leaders as he did in meeting the IAS association.

Khetan said, “Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash was asked about the problems in delivery of PDS to people, to which he replied that he was not answerable to the people's representatives, and only to the Lieutenant-Governor.”

Several AAP MLAs lashed out at the LG and the BJP over the developments. “It is obvious that these 200-odd BJP workers got inside the Delhi Secretariat with the help of government officers following orders of the LG or GoI (Centre),” tweetedAAP MLA Adarsh Shastri.