In a political stand-off, the 45 MLAs demanded that L-G clear all files related to Mohalla Clinics
In a first of its kind standoff, 45 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs "occupied" the conference hall of Raj Niwas for more than seven hours, requesting Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal to speed up the process in clearing all files related to Mohalla Clinics.
The MLAs entered the L-G's house at 2:30 pm and came out at around 9 pm on Wednesday, after Baijal decided to meet them, along with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the cabinet, at 5 pm on Thursday. The group of MLAs headed by party's spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj had come to Civil Lines to discuss the delay in dealing with the files related to Mohalla Clinics.
"We have been asking the L-G to sort out the issue of Mohalla Clinics. Call all officers handling files related to Mohalla Clinics and sort out the issue soon, which is pending for the last two years," Bharadwaj said, through Facebook live sitting in the conference hall.
The MLAs kept posting videos and photos from the L-G house informing about the minute to minute development.
Calling the MLA's behaviour 'rude', L-G house in a statement said "The Hon'ble LG, after a patient hearing of the views of the MLAs, explained the current status of the proposal and clearly outlined the progress so far. However, unfortunately, the behaviour of the members increasingly became extremely rude and discourteous. Despite being given a status of the proposal and repeatedly being told by the Hon'ble LG that the proposal has been returned to the Chief Minister on 5th July, 2017 with a request to address the complaints, the MLAs continued to behave in a belligerent manner without any interest in responding to facts and logic."
The political slugfest took another turn with Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy CM Manish Sisodia getting into the battlefield and tweeting about the issue. Kejriwal even offered to visit the Raj Niwas to sort out the issue.
"L-G office is misrepresenting facts that the CM did not come to meet L-G.... The CM offered to come anytime in interest of Mohalla Clinic. Let's not wait for another Gorakhpur like tragedy in Delhi. CM has offered to discuss it anytime. Let all officers be called right now," Sisodia tweeted.
According to the party, the vigilance department has delayed the process in filing a report asked by Baijal over the functioning of the Mohalla Clinics. Sources in the vigilance department said there has been no delay in sending the report.
Analysis
This episode is not likely to reflect well on the party as it will be perceived as bullying and intimidating a government functionary. The party's stance of being "victimised" and unable to govern, brings back memories of Kejriwal's earlier stint as CM when he resigned. Such a strategy made Delhi angry then and is unlikely to do him any favours now
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