Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to cease the ongoing sealing drive in the Capital through introduction of an Ordinance.
Assembly polls
Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre of continuing to avenge its electoral failure in the 2015 Assembly polls by creating hurdles for the Delhi government through various means, Mr. Kejriwal said crores had lost their livelihoods as a result of sealing. He was speaking at the ‘Sealing Mahapanchayat’ organised at west Delhi’s Matiala Assembly constituency on Wednesday.
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“Before the next session [Winter] of Parliament, we will have to do two things. We will have to gherao the Parliament and houses of all BJP MPs. I will go with you. I am the Chief Minister for you... If I do not go, what is the purpose of being the CM?” Kejriwal told the gathering.
“The BJP has been undertaking hooliganism in Delhi under the garb of sealing over the last year. The BJP sealed thousands of shops and is now going after factories and even the homes of people... If this continues, the BJP will have to seal Delhi in its entirety,” Mr. Kejriwal said in his address.
“All it will take to remedy the situation is a four-line Ordinance . The entire executive machinery at play when it comes to sealing comes under the BJP — whether it is the Centre, the municipal corporations or the Delhi Development Authority... I agree it will take time to create a law to remedy the situation but all it will take to ensure that that time is allotted is a four-line Ordinance,” Mr. Kejriwal said.
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The Centre, the AAP national convener claimed, had done nothing but create hurdles for the AAP government since it was formed. Despite that, Mr. Kejriwal said his party had fulfilled all the promises it had made to the citizens of the Capital before coming to power, including education, healthcare, power and water.
Mr. Kejriwal also attacked Delhi BJP president and North-East Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari, who had broken the seal of a property in his Parliamentary constituency as a symbolic protest against the ongoing drive, for “seeking sympathy through theatrics”.
“I never bothered to even think about all the hurdles being created vis-à-vis our projects... but this issue of sealing is different... It is only a means being employed by the BJP to seek revenge from the citizens of Delhi for handing it the electoral defeat in 2015... This exercise of sealing will destroy the whole of Delhi,” he alleged.
“I challenge Mr. Tiwari to break the seals of all properties in Delhi if he is really sincere... There is only one solution to this issue of sealing in Delhi and that is through the introduction of an Ordinance,” Mr. Kejriwal added.