Kejriwal seeks meeting with Amit Shah on law and order in Delhi

The BJP said that the AAP chief was politicising a sensitive issue such as crime for ‘political gains’

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal has written to Union home minister Amit Shah, seeking an urgent meeting to address what he termed the “dire” law and order situation in the national capital.

Arvind Kejriwal with party leaders in New Delhi on Wednesday. (PTI)

In a letter dated December 14, Kejriwal alleged that criminals in the city have become increasingly emboldened, citing a rise in incidents of shootings, murders, stabbings, and kidnappings.

“In the past six months, there have been over 300 bomb threat calls at Delhi’s schools and colleges, over 100 hospitals, airports, and malls...Every parent and child in Delhi lives under fear. It is shameful that under your watch, our proud capital city is now being referred to as the ‘Rape Capital,’ ‘Drug Capital,’ and ‘Gangster Capital’ due to the failure of the law and order system,” he said.

The former Delhi CM emphasised that the central government is responsible for maintaining law and order in the Union territory, as the Delhi Police reports directly to the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA).

In the run-up to the assembly elections, the AAP chief has repeatedly the issue of law and order issue with the central government. Analysts have said that it is part of AAP’s efforts to make law and order an election issue for which the blame can be squarely put on the BJP-led central government.

The AAP chief demanded swift action from the home minister. “Since Delhi Police and law enforcement come under the central government, there is an urgent need for your appropriate intervention and cooperation in this matter. The situation is dire...We must rise above politics and take immediate steps to restore law and order in Delhi,” Kejriwal said.

The BJP, meanwhile, has consistently accused the AAP chief of politicising a sensitive issue such as crime for “political gains” while maintaining that the police have acted swiftly in solving the cases and arresting those involved in most of the cases of crime.

In response to Kejriwal’s letter, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said that Delhi ranks at the top of the worst polluted national capitals in the world  and 49th in a countrywide sanitation survey. “The AAP has ruled Delhi for 10 years and MCD for the last two. Shamefully, Delhi’s record of 62 deaths due to civic failures this monsoon exceeds the number of planned murders in the city this whole year. The Delhi government today is synonymous with corruption as the Sheesh Mahal bungalow is its mascot. Arvind Kejriwal’s government and MCD have totally failed Delhi in air pollution, Yamuna river cleaning, poor DTC services, and water supply…,” said Sachdeva, challenging Kejriwal to a debate.