Mayors sit on dharna outside Delhi CM’s house

North corporation mayor Jai Prakash, along with his counterparts from the East corporation Nirmal Jain and South corporation Anamika Mithilesh, as well as several councillors sat outside the CM’s house at 6, Flagstaff Road, Civil Lines, from 10am, demanding the release of outstanding dues to the tune of ₹13,000 crore to the three civic bodies.

Mayors of the three Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led municipal corporations on Monday sat on an indefinite dharna outside Delhi chief minister (CM) Arvind Kejriwal’s residence, demanding the release of the civic bodies’ pending dues.

The AAP, in a statement, said that it is “unfortunate” that the home ministry is using BJP to pressure Delhi Police to target the elected government in Delhi. (PTI file photo)

North corporation mayor Jai Prakash, along with his counterparts from the East corporation Nirmal Jain and South corporation Anamika Mithilesh, as well as several councillors sat outside the CM’s house at 6, Flagstaff Road, Civil Lines, from 10am, demanding the release of outstanding dues to the tune of ₹13,000 crore to the three civic bodies.

“We have been sitting here since the morning but the CM has not granted us an audience even till 9pm. This is not a symbolic protest and we plan to stay here until the CM addresses our concerns. It is a serious matter that the civic bodies are in extreme financial crunch while the Delhi government, which has to release funds totalling ₹13,000 crore to the three corporations (as approved under the state finance commission) is not willing to give us our due,” said Prakash.

South Corporation mayor Anamika Mithilesh said, “If the government releases our due funds, it will help us pay off the employees and improve our work efficiency.”

Meanwhile, to counter the BJP’s protest, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councilors also sat outside the CM’s house during the day. The AAP councilors sat on dharna raising counter slogans till late evening.

The AAP, in a statement, said that it is “unfortunate” that the home ministry is using BJP to pressure Delhi Police to target the elected government in Delhi.“It is unfortunate that the MHA is initiating a rebellion in Delhi through the medium of Delhi Police. The MLAs who came to meet Delhi CM during the day were beaten up and sent away, as the BJP protest was going on. All the CM’s appointments were cancelled, nobody was allowed to meet him.”