The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the oath-taking ceremony of party national convener Arvind Kejriwal and his Cabinet on Sunday at Ramlila Maidan. “It is official protocol and the invitation has been sent from the Delhi government,” an AAP leader said. Invitations have also been sent to the eight BJP MPs and other Delhi leaders.
On Thursday, AAP had said it will not invite Chief Ministers or political leaders from other States for the ceremony. The party had said they would invite the President, Prime Minister and political parties in Delhi.
Mr. Kejriwal and senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia had invited all Delhiites to the ceremony, urging them to give their blessing to the AAP chief.
For the event, the Delhi Police has made elaborate security arrangements and issued a traffic advisory, said officials on Friday.
Around 2,000-3,000 security personnel will be stationed in the city, an official said, adding that the ceremony is scheduled to take place at 10 a.m.
“Traffic regulations will be in place from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.,” the official said. Multi-level security arrangements will be in place with CCTV surveillance of all the routes leading to the venue.
Doorframe metal detectors and baggage scanners will also be installed in and around the ground.
On Sunday, cars will have to be parked at the Civic Centre and behind it while buses will be parked on Mata Sundri Road, Power House Road, Velodrome Road, Rajghat parking, Shanti Van parking and service roads in Rajghat and Samta Sthal as per requirements, the advisory said.
Circular to teachers
Meanwhile, Delhi’s Directorate of Education (DoE) has issued a circular to its officials, teachers and principals of government schools to attend the ceremony. The circular also says attendance will be compiled at the entry gates of the Ramlila Maidan.
In a tweet, Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said: “The Aam Aadmi Party, which has won elections by making announcement of freebies, has enough MLAs but not public support. With the fear of people not attending the swearing-in ceremony, the government has issued a diktat to 30,000 teachers to mandatorily attend it.”
Delhi Congress’s chief spokesperson Mukesh Sharma tweeted: “It is clear that power is being misused to gather a crowd for the swearing-in ceremony.”
(With PTI inputs)
