Complete shutdown at Delhi Secretariat as manhandling charges fly

Delhi Government has come to a standstill as officers have called for complete shut down after Chief Secretary of Delhi Anshu Prakash was allegedly manhandled by two MLAs last night at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence. There are reports that agitating officers have also allegedly assaulted Minister Imran Husain and Delhi Development Commission Chairman Ashish Khetan. According to reports, the agitating officers have sought time to meet the Home Minister later in the day.

Meanwhile Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash met Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and apprised him about the incident and complained that in presence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, two MLAs manhandled him last night. According to sources, the Chief Minister convened a meeting last night to discuss the order issued by Chief Secretary that no order will be issued by the government in the name of Lieutenant Governor and another issue related to Food and Civil supplies. According to sources, the meeting was convened late evening around 11 pm and after attending the meeting for 30 minutes, when the Chief Secretary stood up to leave the meeting, the two MLAs manhandled him and forced him to sit in the meeting. This is said to be the bone of contention between the two.

According to sources, a few days back LG Anil Baijal called the Chief Secretary and asked that why orders are being issued in his name without his consent and told CS that no order should be issued without his consent. The Chief Secretary issued this circular and the MLAs and Delhi government reportedly found this circular embarrassing. MLAs asked the CM to convene the meeting and seek clarification from Chief Secretary on this issue. Chief Minister’s Office has denied all these allegations. AAP leader Atishi Marlena has given another version, saying “about two and half lakh people didn’t get the ration supply during last month because of some fault in the Aadhar card and the MLA came to complain about that. Chief Secretary instead of answering the MLAs said that he would give his reply to LG and using unparliamentary language, the Chief Secretary left the meeting held at Chief Minister’s residence”.

Meanwhile Food and Civil Supplies Minister Imran Husain has lodged a complaint at IP Police station. On the other hand, the secretary of the IAS association Manisha Saxena has said that what happened with the Chief Secretary has been a regular feature in this government. The Association has demanded the arrest of culprits and said that until then, they will remain on strike. BJP leader and former AAP leader Shazia Ilmi has tweeted that AAP should be renamed as ‘Aam Gunda Party’.

The controversy and fight is nothing new for this government. Earlier several IAS officers and former Chief Secretary have also faced similar humiliation, but now with officers calling for a complete shut down, it’s bad news for the common people of Delhi.

IAS, DANICS and DASS associations condemn alleged assault on Delhi Chief Secretary

The IAS, DANICS and DASS Associations, representing the officers of the Government of NCT Delhi, issues a strong statement on Tuesday afternoon protesting against and condemning “the physical assault by the MLAs on the Chief Secretary, Delhi at midnight on 20.2.18 in the CM’s residence/Camp office at Flag Staff road in the presence and with the consent of the Hon’ble CM and Deputy CM”. The associations called it an “appalling and shocking physical assault meted out to the Head of the Administration of Delhi, in the form of blows on the head, amounting to threat to life and physical safety”. The associations further alleged that this was only the latest in “series of incidents of officers being subjected to verbal abuse and intimidation by political authorities from time to time” but the latest incident is “the last straw”.

The associations demanded that the Lt Governor of Delhi and the Govt of India “take expeditious action against the perpetrators of the unfortunate incident”.