AAP minister Atishi claims Centre will impose President’s Rule in Delhi

Delhi minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi on Friday said the BJP-led central government is going to impose President’s Rule in Delhi, adding that the party has received several indications regarding the same.
The AAP leader said Arvind Kejriwal-led government enjoys overwhelming majority and the imposing of President’s Rule will be illegal, unconstitutional and against the mandate of the people.
“We have come to learn from reliable people that the BJP-ruled Central government is going to impose President’s Rule in Delhi. Many indications of this have come to the fore in the last few days. No senior IAS officer has been posted in Delhi even though several posts are vacant across different departments. IAS officers postings are controlled by the MHA (ministry of home affairs). LG (VK Saxena) is writing back-to-back letters to the MHA regarding the Delhi government for the last one week without any reason. The LG says the (AAP) ministers are not attending the meetings where he wants to have discussions. The same LG (recently) said in the court that issues of pollution and water are transferred subjects and he has nothing to do with it, then why are you writing to the MHA regarding these subjects. The personal secretary (Bibhav Kumar) of CM Arvind Kejriwal has been sacked in an almost 20 years old case,” Atishi said in a press conference held at the party headquarters on Friday morning.
Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva called claims of the AAP leader baseless.
“It is beyond comprehension why the fear of President’s Rule is haunting AAP which has 62 out of 70 MLAs. Atishi should whether majority of the MLAs are going to leave the AAP, and if that is the reason behind the fear of President’s Rule in AAP,” said Sachdeva.
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The AAP leader said the arrest of Kejriwal by Enforcement Directorate (ED) without any evidence was part of the conspiracy to topple AAP government and impose President’s Rule.
Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 for alleged irregularities in the 2021-22 Delhi excise policy case.
AAP also dismissed charges under which the CM has been arrested and said the arrest has been made under a political conspiracy to crush Kejriwal who is rising as a strong opposition face in the country.
“Using the model code of conduct as an excuse, Delhi government officers have stopped coming to meetings called by the AAP ministers even though the meetings are on important issues. The private secretary of the CM has been sacked in an almost 20 years old case. All these indications point to a very big conspiracy to topple the Arvind Kejriwal government and impose President’s Rule. This is the reason why ED arrested Arvind Kejriwal without any evidence,” said Atishi.
AAP has 62 MLAs in the 70-members Delhi assembly where the opposition BJP has only 8 MLAs.
“Arvind Kejriwal has an overwhelming majority in the Delhi Assembly. He enjoys overwhelming confidence. BJP’s attempts to do any political conspiracy (against AAP govt) will be illegal, unconstitutional and against the mandate of the people,” said Atishi.
The AAP leader claimed that the conspiracy to topple the AAP government and impose President’s Rule was aimed at stopping the free schemes the AAP government runs for the people.
“The second reason behind the conspiracy against Arvind Kejriwal govt is the work done by the AAP government such as free electricity, water, pilgrimage, bus rides… They know that they would not be able to implement the same work in their respective governments. Arvind Kejriwal promised ₹1000 monthly assistance for every woman. The political conspiracy is being hatched to stop the ₹1000 financial scheme and the welfare policies,” said Atishi.
Referring to the imposing of the President’s Rule in Uttarakhand in 2016 by the Uttarakhand HC, Atishi said the Uttarakhand high court ordered floor test when President’s Rule was imposed in the hill state in 2016 and after the result of the floor test came in favour of the then ruling state government, the President’s rule was revoked.
The Delhi minister said, “Some officers of the Delhi government are holding charge of up to four important departments but despite that transfer posting of officers is not happening for the last several months. By the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal, they (BJP) want to show there is political conspiracy in Delhi. They are doing that because they know despite all their efforts people will vote for Arvind Kejriwal.”
Asked if the AAP will move the court seeking necessary permission to allow Kejriwal to run his office from jail, Atishi said, “As and when required, we will move the court as well.”
BJP’s Sachdeva refuted allegations of Atishi.
“Atishi should explain whether the majority of her party MLAs are leaving the party, and if because of that AAP government fears losing majority in Delhi assembly. It would be better if Arvind Kejriwal resigns – hand over the government to a new Chief Minister and let Delhi’s administration run properly,” he said.