The Aam Aadmi Party on Wednesday called the Bharatiya Janata Party’s indefinite “hunger” strike against the renovation of the Chief Minister’s official residence a “farce”, claiming that its leaders had abandoned the protest site by 5.30 p.m. on Wednesday.
However, the BJP said it hadn’t called for a hunger strike and that its protest near the CM house begins at 10.30 a.m. and ends at 5 p.m. daily.
Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva had last week given the call for an indefinite sit-in over the alleged ₹45 crore-renovation of CM Arvind Kejriwal’s residence at 6, Flagstaff Road, Civil Lines.
While AAP on Twitter shared photos of the deserted protest site, its MLA Durgesh Pathak said the BJP is not serious about solving the problems of the people.
Calling the BJP “Bharatiya Nautanki Party”, he said, “It should release the list and medical reports of leaders fasting unto death by evening. Otherwise it will become clear that the BJP’s protest was just theatrics.”
In response, Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said the protest is giving AAP “sleepless nights”.
Mr. Pathak also shared photos of the protest site on Twitter, saying that no one could be seen there till 10.30 a.m.
‘CM flouted norms’
Later in the day, BJP MP and Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi said Mr. Kejriwal had “openly indulged in corruption” to renovate his residence, adding that works worth “₹45 crore” were executed “without a tender”.
“According to the Master Plan-2021, no construction of any kind can be done in Civil Lines, but the CM did not adhere to it. Mr. Kejriwal, who talks about the environment, cut trees but did not take permission for the same. Mr. Kejriwal, who talked about the environment, cut trees but neither took permission for the same nor planted other trees in return,” she said.
