Kejri convenes all-party meet on sealing, BJP gives a miss

Ananya Panda

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 13

An all-party meeting convened by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today yielded some constructive deliberations between the city’s ruling party and the Congress’ representatives on the ongoing sealing crisis with both sides reaching an agreement on jointly pressing the issue in Parliament for granting relief to traders and approaching the Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee with “status of facts, limitations of the Master Plan 2021, amendments thereafter and their interpretations” to resolve the ongoing sealing problem.

The BJP skipped the crucial meeting at the CM’s residence here drawing flak from the AAP government while Kejriwal urged Congress president Rahul Gandhi to raise the sealing issue in the current session of Parliament and force the BJP-led Centre to take all steps required to stop sealing and de-seal shops shut down as part of the drive in the city.

“I urge u (Rahul Gandhi) .... AAP will support any such effort,” tweeted Kejriwal in response to post by office of the Congress leader in which the Congress took a swipe at the saffron party and the AAP over their allegations and counter-allegations on sealing blaming both for the crisis.

The Chief Minister requested both the Congress and the BJP to be part of a joint delegation which will soon meet the members of the monitoring committee on sealing and present the existing provisions and possible solution to the crisis faced by the traders in the city even as the AAP government and the saffron party continued to trade barbs against each other.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said, “It was also decided that an all-party delegation should present all points before the monitoring committee in the interest of traders in Delhi. The Delhi Government will create such an opportunity that they can put forth their views for a solution at the earliest.”

Sisodia added that Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president AjayMaken put forward some “good” suggestions and “we will implement them, but the BJP should not do politics on the issue but help us through numbers it has in Parliament for a solution on the issue”.

“Had a v good meeting wid reps of Congress. BJP boycotted. I wish BJP had also participated in the interest of Delhi’s traders (sic),” tweeted the Chief Minister.

BJP wants to establish FDI in Delhi: Sisodia

Sisodia alleged the BJP wants to establish FDI in Delhi markets with the sealing drive paving way for it.

He doubted its seriousness on resolving the sealing problem and accused the BJP of “playing politics”.

Approach SC, says Maken

Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Ajay Maken said he suggested Kejriwal at the all-party meeting that the government should go to the Supreme Court to fight the case fast and meet the Monitoring Committee.

He said even though there is a solution to the problem in the Master Plan and in the existing laws, the case has not been properly presented before the court. 

Maken said he has requested the government to effectively present the case before the court. During the Congress regime, the authorities concerned had fielded top lawyers, including Attorney General. 

He said everyone should join hands to stop the sealing drive as all the facts should be properly presented before the Supreme Court and the Monitoring Committee as there is provision in the Master Plan and the existing laws to give relief from the drive.

Maken said he had also suggested that the Congress party, AAP and other parties should put pressure on the Centre in Parliament to find a satisfactory result on sealing. When the sealing was taking place, nobody knew why it was happening, and in the coming days, the situation can get worse in Delhi when the sealing will get intensified in the unauthorised colonies and in the villages.

Cong, AAP two sides of same coin: Tiwari

BJP state president Manoj Tiwari said in the name of an all-party meeting, the Congress and the AAP sat together and praised each other’s efforts. He said the Congress and the AAP are like two sides of the same coin.

Tiwari said due to the neglect of the Congress governments and the DDA, the city has witnessed an unplanned development and expansion which in 2006 resulted in the intervention of the SC followed by the sealing drive.

He said the then Centre and state governments under the Congress party working on its past strategy to suppress the issue, brought out an under developed Master Plan-2021 which though stopped the sealing at that time but soon complicated the situation to the extent that in 2017 Supreme Court actively re-intervened.

Tiwari said it is an irony of political situation that the current irresponsible government is praising Congress, the party which is originally responsible for the sealing menace.