'Battle won't end till Delhi gets statehood'
NEW DELHI: After eight long days, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday ended his sit-in protest at Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal's residence, and came out sporting a smile, waving at the crowd and chanting 'Inquilab Zindabad.'
Later, at the Delhi Secretariat, all senior IAS officials of the Delhi administration, including Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash, were in attendance for a meeting with the Delhi Social Welfare minister.
"We have nothing against IAS officers, 99 per cent of them are good people. We have worked with them to improve governance in Delhi. They were just a front for interference in AAP government by the central government and the LG," said Kejriwal, addressing a gathering of MLAs and party functionaries at his home.
The decision to end his protest was taken after differences widened further between the elected Aam Aadmi Party government and IAS officers, who had on Monday agreed for formal talks with Kejriwal after he appealed to them to end the apparent 'strike' and attend meetings with ministers. He also assured safety and security to the officers, called them "a part of his family."
The IAS officers association also welcomed the CM's gesture and said, "We look forward to meeting you to discuss how to make our working environment safe and secure, not only in relation to physical assaults but also for verbal assaults, threats intimidation and attack on dignity and respect of officials including lady officials."
The Chief Minister is likely to convene a formal meeting with the bureaucrats to further iron out differences.
Meanwhile, Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, in a press conference, said, "We did not have any fight with the IAS officers. Today, we got the feelers that the officers have been directed to attend meetings. We hope that the officers will continue to attend the meetings with ministers. Today, all the senior officials have attended the meetings and I am very happy to see that."
The logjam saw the Kejriwal-led AAP take centre stage in the national political arena in the past week, even leading non-BJP and non-Congress forces to meet in Delhi, hinting new political equation.
