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IAS officers come out in public, allege victimisation, Satyendar Jain hospitalised
Jain had gone on strike on Tuesday, and his sugar level had further dipped yesterday, even as he asserted that the AAP government will continue to fight for people of the city.
New Delhi
The tug of war between the AAP dispensation and the Lieutenant Governor refused to die down with IAS officers coming out in public alleging that they have been "targeted and victimised" for political gains, even as Delhi minister Satyendar Jain was rushed to hospital tonight.
As the sit-in by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal continued on the seventh day today, chief ministers of four-non-BJP ruled states urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and solve the crisis.
Later in the day, Kejriwal tried to salvage the situation by sending out an "assurance of safety" to the officers whom he called part of his families.
Jain was tonight rushed to the LNJP Hospital as his health deteriorated nearly a week after he had gone on an indefinite hunger strike at the Lieutenant Governor office, Kejriwal said.
The health minister was taken to the LNJP Hospital, officials said.
"Satyender Jain shifted to hospital due to his deteriorating health (sic)," Kejriwal tweeted.
The political slugfest between parties continued with the AAP upping the ante and organising a massive march to the prime minister's residence. The march was, however, stopped by the police midway.
Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia and Jain, have stayed put at the L-G office demanding that Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal direct IAS officers to end what the AAP described as their "strike" and approve doorstep ration delivery scheme.
While the Congress defended its decision to not join other opposition parties in supporting Kejriwal over his standoff with the Delhi L-G, calling the AAP leader's "dharna in an air-conditioned room" a "drama", the BJP, the major opposition party in the Delhi Assembly, continued its bashing of AAP and Kejriwal, saying he resorted to a "political stunt" in a bid to form an "anti-BJP, anti-Narendra Modi" front in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
The Delhi IAS association asked the Delhi government not to use its officers for "political gains" and rebutted its claim that they were on strike.
It had also said that the AAP dispensation needed to "change its attitude" amid Kejriwal's standoff with Baijal.
Revenue Secretary Manisha Saxena, along with Transport Commissioner Varsha Joshi, South Delhi District Magistrate Amjad Tak and Directorate of Information and Publicity Secretary Jaydev Sarangi held a press conference and said that the IAS officers in Delhi were "working with utmost sincerity and dedication".
Countering Kejriwal's allegations, Saxena, a senior member of IAS AGMUT (Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territories) Association, said that officers were not working at the behest of anyone.
"We are answerable only to the law and the Constitution," Saxena said, adding that they had been targeted and victimised.
"We would like to inform that we are not on strike," she said.
In response to the IAS association, Kejriwal later in the night assured them that he would ensure their safety saying they were part of his family, and sought to break the four- month-long impasse between the AAP dispensation and the officers over an alleged assault on Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash.
"The officers are part of my family. I would urge them to stop their boycott of elected government, return to work now and start attending all meetings of Ministers, respond to their calls and messages and join them for field inspections," Kejriwal wrote on Twitter.
Spurred by the participation of CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and several Left workers, the AAP had managed to stage a notable protest march but failed to reach its avowed destination -- 7 Lok Kalyan Marg, the prime minister's residence.
Amid the ongoing sit-in by party supremo and Kejriwal and his two cabinet colleagues at the lieutenant governor's office, the AAP leaders and workers began the march from Mandi House.
Five prime metro stations --Patel Chowk, Central Secretariat, Udyog Bhawan and Janpath-- in the heart of Delhi were closed in view of the march.
Earlier in the day, chief ministers of West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urged him to intervene for solving the tussle between the L-G and the AAP government in Delhi, terming it a "constitutional crisis”.
On the sidelines of the NITI Aayog governing council meeting, West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee, Andhra Pradesh's N Chandrababu Naidu, Kerala's Pinarayi Vijayan, and Karnataka's H D Kumaraswamy requested Modi to resolve the crisis so the "federal structure of the Constitution is maintained".
"I along with the Hon'ble CMs of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala have requested Hon'ble PM today to resolve the problems of Delhi government immediately (sic)," Banerjee tweeted after meeting Modi.
Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari had said that it was "unfortunate" that the chief ministers of four states allowed themselves to be a part of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo's "drama".
Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta, who is sitting on an indefinite hunger strike at the chief minister's office at the Delhi Secretariat, wrote an "open letter" to Kejriwal, asking him to look beyond "political interests" and resume work, along with his ministers.
"The (press) conference held by the chief ministers of four states in your favour ends all doubts of your dharna being nothing more than a political stunt to rally together an anti-BJP, anti-Modi front before the elections next year," Gupta wrote in the letter.
Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain was tonight rushed to a city hospital as his health deteriorated nearly a week after he had gone on an indefinite hunger strike at the Lieutenant Governor office, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said.
The health minister was taken to the LNJP Hospital, officials said.
Kejriwal confirmed that his colleague has been hospitalised even as the tug-of-war between the AAP government and the LG refused to die down on the seventh day today.
"Satyender Jain shifted to hospital due to his deteriorating health (sic)," he tweeted.
His health summary this morning showed that his sugar level was 64 units (mg/dL) and ketone level in urine was "large". The blood pressure level was 96/68 and he weighed 78.5 kg, sources said.
Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia, Jain and Gopal Rai, have stayed put at the L-G office demanding that Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal direct IAS officers to end what the AAP described as their "strike" and approve doorstep ration delivery scheme.
Jain had gone on strike on Tuesday, and his sugar level had further dipped yesterday, even as he asserted that the AAP government will continue to fight for people of the city.
In a tweet, the minister had shared a copy of his health summary, which said, the ketone level in urine had increased to a "large amount".
"My reports. Ketones are increasing and blood sugar is constantly low. Lost 3.7 kg wt in 4 days. We will continue fighting for ppl of Delhi (sic)," he had tweeted.
Yesterday, a team of medical specialists had examined Jain and Sisodia, who is also on indefinite fast at the LG office since Wednesday.
According to the health summary, Jain's weight on June 12 was 82.7 kg while he weighed 79 kg on June 16.
Yesterday, the sugar level had dipped again to 40 units. His blood pressure reading was 110/70.
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