As BJP And AAP Governments Bicker, Traders In Delhi Suffer
BJP has boycotted a meeting called by AAP to resolve the fall-out of sealing of shops in Delhi.
A sealing drive of shops was undertaken by the municipal corporations of the national capital on the directions of a Supreme Court-appointed committee in December last year. Here is the latest on the matter from political parties in the national capital:
Aam Aadmi Party
Arvind Kejriwal had yesterday written to Ajay Maken and Manoj Tiwari, inviting them for the meeting at his residence on Tuesday saying, “We should rise above politics and come together to find a solution to the problems that have risen due to sealing.” While the AAP supremo spoke about rising above politics, other AAP leaders clearly didn’t heed his advice.
Taking a dig at Tiwari, senior AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj tweeted, “Whole Delhi desperately seeking a solution for Sealing. Where is BJP Delhi Chief and Member of Parliament?”
AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said the central government passed four ordinances to amend the Land Acquisition Act and took the same route to allow Jallikattu in Tamil Nadu after the Supreme Court ban. What prevents it from passing an ordinance or a bill to provide some relief to businessmen here.
Bhartiya Janta Party
The BJP decided to boycott the meeting called by Kejriwal. Delhi BJP general secretary Ravinder Gupta said the party would not attend the meeting, adding that after the incident at the CM’s residence on January 30, where a delegation of the saffron party was “misbehaved with”, it was proved that the AAP does not believe in a “political dialogue”. “The government should appoint prominent lawyers as the chief minister has appointed for his personal litigation,” BJP said in a letter to Kejriwal. In a statement, the party said, “The Delhi BJP feels there is no objective of such a meeting as the intentions of the government of Delhi are not clear on the matter.”
Indian National Congress
Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken was the only one who seemed to be interested in rising above politics and said he will attend the all-party meeting to be held at the chief minister’s residence tomorrow.
Under the drive, hundreds of commercial establishments have been sealed so far for non-payment of conversion charges and violation of the Delhi Master Plan.
Editor’s Note:
It is tragic that Delhi has become collateral damage in the mud-slinging between AAP and BJP. While the BJP said that the State BJP Chief is out of the country accompanying President Ramnath Kovind, he should perhaps have been in the city in this hour of crisis. Contrast this with the commentary that would have followed if it was Rahul Gandhi who was out of the country. The AAP’s appeal to ‘rise above politics’ while its leaders continue to trade barbs reeks of hypocrisy.