Mayors, leaders of MCD picket in front of Delhi CM s house
New Delhi: The city mayors and leaders of BJP-ruled municipal corporations picketed outside Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence on Monday, vowing to continue their dharna indefinitely till the Delhi government settled "unpaid" dues to the civic bodies.
The mayors of North, South and East Delhi municipal corporations--Jai Prakash, Anamika Mithilesh and Nirmal Jain-- accompanied by Delhi BJP vice president Harsh Malhotra, and many women councilors, were sitting outside Kejriwal's Flagstaff Road residence till late Monday night.
"We have not received any word from the chief minister or the Delhi government to discuss our demand for payment of the unpaid dues. We are prepared to continue the sit-in indefinitely," said Malhotra.
The mayors along with their deputies, chairpersons of standing committees, leaders of Houses and others demonstrated, and raised slogans demanding release of funds worth crores which they alleges is "due" to the three civic bodies.
A posse of security has been deployed near the CM's house in Civil Lines area as the civic body leaders sat right in front of its main gate.
The BJP leaders claimed they stopped Kejriwal's vehicle from entering his residence during the protest.
"We requested for a meeting with the CM to talk about our unpaid dues. We were assured that the CM will talk to us and then we allowed his vehicle to pass. But, we have not received any invitation so far. The protest will continue indefinitely," East Delhi mayor Nirmal Jain said.
The mayors and other municipal corporation leaders claimed outstanding dues of Rs 13,000 crore to the three civic bodies from the Delhi government.
North Delhi mayor Jai Prakash said the sit-in will continue overnight till the Delhi government and Kejriwal promised to settle the issue.
"We wanted to meet CM Arvind Kejriwal regarding the release of outstanding dues of Rs 13,000 crore, but he did not meet us. We were forced to sit on dharna outside the chief minister's residence and we will do so indefinitely till they promise to settle our dues," he said.
The ruling AAP and Kejriwal had earlier alleged "corruption" and "mismanagement" at the BJP-ruled municipal corporations, claiming all due funds were paid to them.
Meanwhile, the AAP alleged that party MLAs who had come to meet the chief minister were beaten by the Delhi Police and sent away.
AAP MLA Akhilesh Pati Tripathi said he was dragged from outside the CM's residence by the city police, while no action was taken against the protesting civic body members.
It is very unfortunate that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is initiating a rebellion in Delhi through the medium of Delhi Police. The MLAs who came to meet Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal were beaten and sent away, all his appointments were cancelled because nobody was allowed to meet him. It is very unfortunate that in a way, MHA is using the BJP to force helpless Delhi Police to target the elected government in Delhi, the party said in a statement.
