Arvind Kejriwal writes to Narendra Modi again, alleges Centre has reduced Delhi to 10% state

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal wrote a letter to the prime minister, his third since Thursday, appealing him to interfere and solve the impasse between government, lieutenant-governor, and bureaucrats in Delhi. Kejriwal, in an angry letter to Narendra Modi, alleged that the prime minister was operating with the intention of paralysing the Delhi government, since it wasn’t run by the BJP. [caption id=“attachment_4505833” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. PTI[/caption] He claimed that the Centre was operating in a way to block every move devised by the Government of Delhi and said that former chief minister Sheila Dikshit had much more power in her hands. “I am supposed to work with the IAS officers but I can’t take disciplinary action against them, can’t transfer them, and I can’t even punish the corrupt officers,” Kejriwal wrote. “Delhi was half-a-state before you took over the reigns. But after you came to power, it does not even have 10 percent powers of what a state has,” Kejriwal said. “You want all the control while you want us to shoulder all the responsibility, how is that possible?” Kejriwal rued. He also demanded that if not full statehood, the Centre should at least restore powers that the previous Delhi governments had, and AAP will end its strike. Warning against the collapse of the federal structure, Kejriwal said that the BJP-led central government is meddling with the constitutional tenets that ensures a federal structure. He also said that the unprecedented, undeclared strike by the bureaucrats also set a dangerous precedent. He also alleged that AAP MLAs Somnath Bharti and AK Bagga, who were seeking an appointment to meet Baijal, were forefully removed by the police from the L-G’s office where they had gone to attend a DDA meeting.  Both Bharti and Bagga, members of the Delhi Development Authority(DDA), after the meeting stayed back at the LG’s office and sought an appointment to meet Baijal. Kejriwal’s letter comes on the ninth day of his protest when there are finally signs of a let up in the impasse in the national capital. The IAS officers have asked to meet Kejriwal and his cabinet at the Delhi Secretariat, if their dignity and security was ensured. the they were waiting for a formal communication from Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for a meeting at the secretariat here to end the impasse. “#DelhiAtWork #NoToStrike In the context of Honble CM’s assurance, we await formal communication for a meeting with him in the Delhi Secretariat. We reiterate that we continue to be at work,” the association tweeted. He had, on Thursday, written to Modi, seeking his intervention to end the strike, claiming that Baijal was doing “nothing” to end the impasse. Kejriwal and his cabinet colleagues have been holding a sit-in at the LG’s office since 11 June, demanding a direction to the officers to end their “strike”.