AAP leaders, Delhi govt officials trade manhandling charges; MHA seeks report

The Home Ministry has sought a report from Delhi Lieutenant Governor on an alleged assault on the chief secretary of the Delhi government.

File photo (PTI)

New Delhi: Condemning the alleged manhandling of the Delhi chief secretary by a few AAP MLAs on Monday night, two IAS bodies on Tuesday met Lt Governor Anil Baijal to lodge their protest over the matter.

Delhi Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash was allegedly manhandled by a few AAP MLAs at the CM's residence in presence of Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia, it has been claimed. 

According to an official, Prakash was called by Kejriwal regarding the issue of advertisements, which were not being released. But, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) claimed that he had been called for a discussion on rations.

IAS, DANICS associations, along with the Delhi Administration Subordinate Services (DASS), alleged that the meeting was called on Monday night to put pressure on the chief secretary to release publicity material regarding achievements of the AAP government, in violation of the Supreme court guidelines.

The meeting was devoid of any emergency or public interest, they claimed.

"The incident which has happened at the official residence of the chief minister clearly appears to pre-planned, pre-meditated and absolutely without any provocation on the part of the chief secretary in view of the fact that the meeting was called at midnight... The meeting had been called to put pressure him to release publicity material regarding achievements of the government," the associations said in a joint statement.

Delhi: Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash's complaint letter to Police over yesterday's incident pic.twitter.com/zvdsNGatIN — ANI (@ANI) February 20, 2018

We stand by the resolution of Delhi IAS Association and demand immediate action against the perpetrators of this shameful act. pic.twitter.com/GZfLdtbTO0 — IAS Association (@IASassociation) February 20, 2018

Meanwhile, the Home Ministry on Tuesday sought a report from Baijal on the incident. In a communication, the ministry asked the LG to submit a detailed report on the alleged attack on the bureaucrat. 

The MHA has sought a report on the incident from the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi. Justice will be done. A delegation of IAS DANICS & Subordinate Services of Delhi Government met me today and apprised me of the prevailing situation. — Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) February 20, 2018

However, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has claimed he had been called for a discussion on rations. "The allegation of assault is totally bizarre and baseless," added a senior official of the CM's office.

AAP's response to false allegations by Chief Secretary

pic.twitter.com/dl3M2MrXW6 — AAP (@AamAadmiParty) February 20, 2018

"There was a heated exchange at the meeting last night. During the argument, two-three AAP MLAs manhandled him... The CS's spectacles also got broken," alleged a senior IAS official, who did not wish to be named, PTI reported.

After the incident, the chief secretary met Lt Governor Anil Baijal last night (Monday) and apprised him of the incident, he added.

The IAS officers association met Baijal on Tuesday and lodged a protest over the issue. Sources said, the association decided not to go on strike as "it will make people suffer".

AAP countered the allegation with a statement that about 2.5 lakh families were deprived of rations last month due to faulty Aadhaar implementation and party MLAs were under tremendous pressure from the public.

"There was a meeting of MLAs at the CM's residence. The CS refused to answer questions, saying that he was not answerable to MLAs and the CM, and that he was answerable only to the LG. He (Prakash) even used bad language against some of the MLAs and left without answering any questions," the party claimed in a statement.

It described as "false information" claims that the meeting and the argument was about TV ads. The entire discussion was on a large number of families, who were not getting their rations, it said.

"Now he (CS) is making such ludicrous allegations. Obviously, he is doing it at BJP’s behest. The BJP has stooped very low in disrupting governance in Delhi through the LG and officers. If the CS can make such wild allegations, one can imagine the kind of obstacles that are being created in AAP government’s work by the BJP through the officers," it said.

(With PTI inputs)