Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday told traders that if need be, he will leave his post and fight against the ongoing sealing along with them.
Mr. Kejriwal also wrote to the Supreme Court-appointed Monitoring Committee, on whose orders the drive is being carried out, asking for a meeting to discuss the sealing issue.
Addressing a gathering of traders at Gandhi Nagar market, Mr. Kejriwal said though the power to stop the sealing drive was not with his government, he will work to end it.
Jallikattu ordinance
Hitting out against the BJP-ruled Centre, Mr. Kejriwal said the government had brought an ordinance so that people in Tamil Nadu could observe the festival of Jallikattu but had not brought any ordinance to “save the traders” of Delhi.
“Whatever the Centre needs to do, they should do to stop the sealing raj...This issue doesn’t come under my jurisdiction...I will leave my chair and come to the streets if needed to fight the sealing,” said Mr. Kejriwal, adding that if the Centre did not act before March 31, he will go on indefinite hunger strike.
He added that he would not have supported the traders had they “done the wrong thing”.
However, he said Union Minister of State (independent charge) Hardeep Singh Puri had informed him on Wednesday that there was a solution in sight and invited the Chief Minister for lunch next week to discuss the issue.
Mr. Kejriwal said traders in Delhi had been facing sealing for the past three months and recently traders in Amar Colony were beaten up by police personnel.
Referring to violations of the Master Plan 2021, which is the cause for the sealing, Mr. Kejriwal said “everyone would have made small mistakes. But, you can’t stop all trade due to small technical mistakes.”
Unemployment
He added that if trade shut down, unemployment will increase.
“If so many people are unemployed, Delhi’s law and order will become unmanageable. Those who are having the sealing done should understand,” he said.
