Delhi CS writes to Arvind Kejriwal ahead of Budget Session meet, asks him to ensure there is no assault

Delhi chief secretary Anshu Prakash wrote to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal about Tuesday’s meeting of the council of ministers on the budget session, asking him to ensure there is no physical or verbal assault on him, media reports said. The letter comes a day after the Kejriwal-led Delhi government was considering a proposition to broadcast or live stream all meetings with bureaucrats .

Earlier on Tuesday, Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Monday urged Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Anil Baijal  to order bureaucrats to resume work and asserted that if the services were under the Delhi government’s ambit, “rule of law” would have been followed. [caption id=“attachment_4359443” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Delhi chief secretary Anshu Prakash. News18[/caption] Delhi government officers have been boycotting meetings with all ministers, including Kejriwal, to show solidarity with Prakash. He was allegedly assaulted by some AAP MLAs in front of Kejriwal and his deputy Sisodia at the chief minister’s residence on the intervening night of 19-20 February. On 21 February, police had detained AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan and questioned the Delhi chief minister’s adviser VK Jain for three hours in connection with an alleged assault The incident had sparked protests in the city and threats of a pen-down strike in government offices. The ruling AAP denied the allegation even as the IAS Association secretary Manisha Saxena complained to Baijal, claiming that the attack on Monday night was a “planned criminal conspiracy” against the top bureaucrat. BJP MLA Vijender Gupta, who is also the Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, alleged that Kejriwal “in his dictatorial style” called the chief secretary at midnight on Monday and “berated” him in front of his MLAs. With inputs from agencies