AAP rally sees massive footfall, goes off peacefully
NEW DELHI: The ruling Aam Aadmi Party's protest against the Centre for refusing to fulfill its demands witnessed massive support on Sunday, with supporters of the party turning up in large numbers as they protested towards the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence.
Wearing their trademark white caps, thousands of AAP leaders, workers and supporters gathered at Mandi House Metro station to start their march. However, they were stopped midway by Delhi Police personnel at Parliament Street.
AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said that the rally was held to protect the "rights of citizens and to protect the Constitution." "The entire country is getting together to back Arvind Kejriwal's fight," he said, adding that they are requesting the Lieutenant Governor and the PM to ask IAS officers to come back to work.
Ahead of the rally, Delhi Police said that no permission was taken by AAP. "The New Delhi district has not received any permission of an AAP protest. Protest marches are banned in residential areas. Section 144 has already been imposed," said senior officer Madhur Verma.
The AAP leaders respected the order of police and the leadership stopped the huge rally at the point where the police asked them to.
No reports of any violence or misbehaviour by the protesters came and the march was peaceful.
Singh also said that nearly 30,000 sanitation workers of the Municipal Corporations of Delhi, which have been under the BJP for 15 years, turned up in support of the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government.
Meanwhile, Delhi Metro closed entry and exit at five metro stations near 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, the official residence of the PM, till 8 pm on Monday.
The move came after Delhi Police advised Delhi Metro Rail Corporation to close the Lok Kalyan Marg station from 12 noon. Other stations – Central Secretariat, Udyog Bhawan, Patel Chowk and Janpath – were closed after 2 pm.
Earlier the day, the Chief Ministers of four states urged the PM to solve the issue. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that the PM did not give any assurance when she, along with three other chief ministers, raised the political crisis in Delhi with him.
Banerjee, along with her Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan, Andhra Pradesh's N Chandrababu Naidu and Karnataka's HD Kumaraswamy, had a meeting with PM Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on the sidelines of the NITI Aayog Governing Council meeting and urged the Centre to resolve the issue.
Even the Communist Party of India (Marxist) joined the AAP rally, with their supporters waving the red flags. CPI(M) chief Sitaram Yechury also joined the protest.
Ahead of the march, Yechury had tweeted: "Joining the protest rally to the Prime Minister's residence today to express serious condemnation over the manner in which federalism, a fundamental feature of our Constitution, is being undermined by this BJP Central government."
He also said that the BJP-led central government has created a situation where the Chief Minister (Arvind Kejriwal) is being forced to protest.
