Attack on Chief Secretary: As Kejriwal meets LG, BJP calls him 'dictatorially elected president' of Pvt Ltd Company

Delhi's LG Anil Baijal met Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday over the alleged assault on Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash.

Taking to Twitter, the LG said, "Met Hon'ble CM @ArvindKejriwal & his cabinet colleagues. Strongly condemn the recent unfortunate incidents. Advised elected Govt. to take steps to remove mistrust with Govt. employees so that development of Delhi is not affected. No place for violence in democracy."

Met Hon'ble CM @ArvindKejriwal & his cabinet colleagues. Strongly condemn the recent unfortunate incidents. Advised elected Govt. to take steps to remove mistrust with Govt. employees so that development of Delhi is not affected. No place for violence in democracy.

— LG Delhi (@LtGovDelhi) February 23, 2018

Meanwhile Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that during the meeting with the LG, Kejriwal informed himthat in the past 2-3 days, officers had not attended the meeting nor had they answered his (Kejriwal's) phone calls. "He have asked asked for a list of officers," he said, adding that both the LG and Kejriwal would speak to the babus working in the Delhi government.

Officers not attending meetings for last 3 days. Governance suffering. I m v concerned. LG assured he will take all steps to ensure officers started functioning normally. Council of ministers assured him all cooperation. All of us need to work together for betterment of Delhi

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) February 23, 2018

Earlier, the BJP on Friday dubbed Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal as a ‘dictatorially elected president of almost a private limited company’ after the latter took a dig at its president Amit Shah.

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra cited the arrest of 14 MLAs of the regional party at different points of time on charges ranging from violence to molestation and forgery to hit back.

Assaulting your own Chief Secretary physically, is it not 'goondagardi' and 'dadagiri' ? Dr @sambitswaraj pic.twitter.com/xWwhGbJu64

— BJP (@BJP4India) February 23, 2018

Attacking the Delhi chief minister, he said at a media briefing that Kejriwal’s decision to call the state’s chief secretary at his residence and the alleged physical assault on him was a case of ‘bullying and thuggery’.

Delhi chief secretary Anshu Prakash has accused AAP MLAs of physically assaulting him during a meeting at the chief minister’s residence and two lawmakers of the party have been arrested.

The AAP has accused the Delhi Police of acting at the behest of the BJP.

Patra also termed as ‘deplorable and appalling’ the AAP’s attack on Shah.

“I would like to say to Arvind Kejriwal that Amit Shah is a duly, democratically elected president of the largest political party of the world, leave aside the country. You are a dictatorially elected president of almost a private limited company party,” he said.

AAP leaders have targeted Shah over the case of death of judge B H Loya, who was dealing with the Sohrabuddin Sheikh case, and demanded an investigation against the BJP chief.

 @SanjayAzadSln pic.twitter.com/6x8L5DkOYw

— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) February 23, 2018

Patra referred to Kejriwal’s defence of Jitender Singh Tomar, a former minister in his government, who was accused of having a forged law degree, and his former principal secretary Rajendra Kumar, charged by the CBI in a corruption case, to attack him.

He protects a ‘corrupt’ officer but targets somebody who cites a Supreme Court order to him, he said.

The BJP leader termed as a ‘lie’ Kejriwal’s claim that the meeting in which Prakash was allegedly assaulted was about food availability for the poor, saying neither the food minister nor the food secretary was present.

Kejriwal wants a lawless situation, he said, adding that “this kind of anarchist mentality will not be beneficial to Delhi.”

DELHI COURT DISMISSES AAP MLAs’ plea

Earlier, a Delhi court dismissed the bail pleas of two AAP MLAs, Amanatullah Khan and Prakash Jarwal, arrested for allegedly assaulting Delhi Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash.

Metropolitan Magistrate Shefali Barnala Tondon, however, refused to grant the police their custody saying there was no new ground for custodial interrogation.

The court had yesterday sent the MLAs to 14-day judicial custody.

The two MLAs were arrested in connection with the alleged assault on Delhi's top bureaucrat during a meeting at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence on the night of February 19.

While Jarwal, an MLA from Deoli, was arrested on Tuesday night, Khan was taken into custody on Wednesday afternoon.

With PTI Inputs