Arvind Kejriwal ends nine-day 'dharna' after Baijal asks him to meet IAS officers

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday called off his nine-day sit-in at the lieutenant governor's office after bureaucrats started attending meetings with AAP ministers

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his deputy anish Sisodia, AAP leaders Satyendra Kumar Jain and Gopal Rai during a sit-in protest at Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal’s residence, in New Delhi. Photo: PTI File

NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday called off his nine-day sit-in at the lieutenant governor's office after bureaucrats started attending meetings with AAP ministers, said Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. Sisodia said several meetings, attended by IAS officers, were held during the day. The bureaucrats have been at loggerheads with the AAP dispensation following the alleged assault on Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash in February. "Arvind Kejriwal will come out of the L-G office. It was not a dharna. We were waiting to meet the lieutenant governor," the deputy chief minister told reporters here. Earlier in the day, Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal wrote to the chief minister asking him to meet officers urgently to address concerns of both sides through dialogue. Baijal shot off a letter to Kejriwal in response to his deputy Manish Sisodia's communication in which the latter had asked for a meeting between the government and bureaucrats to end the impasse. Kejriwal, Sisodia, Health Minister Satyendar Jain and Labour Minister Gopal Rai had started a sit-in protest at the L-G's office on June 11 over their demands, including a direction to IAS officers to end their "strike". Sisodia and Jain, who were on a hunger strike at the L-G's office and were hospitalised after their health deteriorated, were discharged this morning from the LNJP Hospital. "The L-G requested the CM to urgently meet the officers at the Secretariat so that apprehensions and concerns of both sides can be suitably addressed through dialogue in the best interest of the people of Delhi," an official from Baijal's office said in a statement. The official said Baijal had earlier advised the AAP government to make efforts to restore trust between the elected government and the officers. "The L-G stated that he was glad that the CM had tweeted an appeal to the officers assuring them of safety and security in their interactions with the elected government. "The L-G observed that he has been informed that the officers have also welcomed the appeal and they are awaiting the CM's presence at the Secretariat to hold discussions," the statement added.