Help end Kejriwal-LG standoff, 4 opposition CMs tell PM Narendra Modi
NEW DELHI: After having expressed solidarity with the Delhi CM’s ‘sit-in protest’ at the lieutenant governor’s office, opposition CMs Mamata Banerjee, N Chandrababu Naidu, Pinarayi Vijayan and H D Kumaraswamy urged PM Narendra Modi to resolve Arvind Kejriwal’s standoff with the bureaucracy in the Capital.
The CMs sought Modi out during the meeting of the Niti Aayog’s governing council here on Sunday with Banerjee tweeting, “I, along with CMs of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala, have requested PM today to resolve problems of the Delhi gover nment immediately.”
PM heard the four CMs, but said nothing: Mamata Banerjee
Later, Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee told reporters that PM Modi “heard the four CMs but did not say anything” while home minister Rajnath Singh said he would “look into” the issue. BJP did not offer any reaction to the West Bengal CM’s statement.
The support extended to Kejriwal is part of an opposition mobilisation with Naidu the latest addition to the anti-NDA camp following his bitter fallout with BJP. The CMs met for informal discussions on Saturday amid Banerjee’s efforts for a ‘federal front’, a move to bring regional parties on one platform ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
The support offered by the opposition CMs and their move to approach the PM provided a boost to Kejriwal as both BJP and Congress, the two other major parties in the Capital, have accused him of political grandstanding, saying he was using a non-existent strike by officials to mask the state government’s failures.
As the four chief ministers urged Modi and Singh to sort out matters between the Centre and the Kejriwal government at the earliest, CPM cadres joined AAP members and took to Delhi’s streets protesting against the Centre for “not allowing” the state government to function.
“Delhi is the country’s capital and hence people come here from all over. If the state government is not allowed to function here, people have to suffer which is not a good thing,” Banerjee said.
