Sheila Dikshit takes on CM Kejriwal over AAP protest at LG office, urges him to 'read Constitution'

"The dharna by both the parties is a part of well-planned strategy."

Gujarat elections 2017: Former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit hits out at PM Modi/ File image- PTI

Delhi: Former Chief Minister of Delhi, Shiela Dikshit, on Friday lashed out at the CM Arvind Kejriwal over the ongoing tussle between Delhi government and L-G Baijal and urged him to first “read the Constitution” before extending demands. Her reaction came after the fourth day of Kejriwal’s sit-in protest against the Lt. Governor’s office along with his party members Manish Sisodia, Gopal Rai and Satyendra Jain. Kejriwal and his partymen are protesting over their demand, where they are seeking “full statehood for Delhi” and are urging the IAS officers to end their ‘strike’. Taking on CM, Dixit said that “Kejriwal should study the Constitution and know that in order to get full statehood; he must have the support of the Prime Minister and the Parliament”. She further said that the role of the Lt. Governor and the Chief Minister is clearly defined in the Constitution and she fails to understand why Kejriwal is on a protest since Monday. She went on to say that she felt “ashamed” that a CM is posting images of his protest from the Lt. Governor Anil Baijal’s office’s waiting room. Commenting on her tenure as a CM, she pointed out that at the time when she came to power in 1998, BJP had control of the Centre and there was no point of conflict between them. Even Congress wanted full statehood but they never politicised it. She continued to say that Delhi is a Union Territory and he must understand that he cannot have model like Haryana or Uttar Pradesh. “He should first read the Constitution. If he thinks that there is a need to make amendments to the Constitution, he should approach Modi ji and Parliament,” she said. Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee chief Ajay Maken criticised both BJP and Kejriwal saying that they are doing “dharna politics” and are “not serious” about genuine issues like water shortage in Union Territory. The dharna by both the parties is a part of well-planned strategy. The script of this strategy had been written when the chief secretary was assaulted at the CM’s residence… AAP is doing dharna to divert attention from its failure on public issues,” Maken said, supporting Shiela Dikshit.