uesday seemed to have been marked as a day of protests with members of different political parties hitting the streets in different parts of the city — in some cases even causing inconvenience to commuters as traffic was hit due to the protests.
While the Bharatiya Janata Party workers tried to march to the Delhi Secretariat protesting against the recent increase in power tariff, Congress workers continued their protest demanding the resignation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for helping scam-tainted former IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi in procuring travel documents in the United Kingdom.
At Jantar Mantar, members of the All India Students’ Association (AISA) protested against the appointment of actor Gajendra Chauhan as the Chairman of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII).
Scores of National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) workers protested outside Ms. Swaraj’s Safdarjung Lane residence in Lutyens’ Zone, a group of workers from the Congress women’s wing demonstrated outside BJP headquarters at Ashoka Road in Central Delhi demanding that Ms. Swaraj step down as Cabinet Minister.
A minor scuffle ensued when protesters tried to break police barricades outside Ms. Swaraj’s residence. Police swooped on the protesters and detained some of them before shipping them to Tughlak Road police station. The protesters were released later.
At ITO, motorists had a harrowing time as BJP workers tried to march towards the Delhi Secretariat, accusing the Arvind Kejriwal government of “going back on its poll promise and allowing increase of power tariffs”.
The BJP workers were led by South Delhi MP Ramesh Bidhuri against “water scarcity and politicisation of water tanker supply” in the area near Okhla Delhi Jal Board office.
Traffic was blocked for over an hour at Hotel Crowne Plaza chowk and movement of traffic was allowed only after a DJB official came and assured the protesters of regular tap water and tanker supply in Tughlakabad.
“The Aam Aadmi Party came to power assuring free water supply to entire Delhi, but people of South Delhi today are facing acute water shortage, especially in Tughlakabad and Okhla Assembly segments. Taps have run dry and water tanker supply has been hijacked by a mafia of water-sellers associated with the ruling party,” Mr. Bidhuri alleged.
Slamming the AAP government over the recent hike in power tariff, Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyay said: “Within four months of this government coming to power, water bills continue to remain as before, but there is no water in the taps. Now by allowing increase of power tariff, the government has broken the back of people with a six per cent hike.”
