Kejriwal continues sit-in protest

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday continued his sit-in protest at the Lt. Governor's residence, urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "give a green signal" to the IAS officers to end their strike.

"I wud urge Hon'ble PM to give green signal to them (IAS officers) to end it now," Kejriwal tweeted.

Kejriwal along with Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and cabinet ministers Satyendar Jain and Gopal Rai were camping in the Raj Niwas since June 11 demanding a direction to the IAS officers working in the Delhi administration to end their undeclared 'strike' and wanted the Centre to approve Delhi government's proposal to deliver ration to the poor at their houses.

Jain, who was on an indefinite hunger strike since June 12, was shifted to the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital here late Sunday night.

In another tweet on Monday, Kejriwal said: "Last night, Jain's ketone levels increased and he complained of headache, body ache, difficulty in breathing and passing urine. So, he had to be shifted to hospital. Now, he is doing well."

He said Sisodia, who started his indefinite hunger strike a day after Jain, is fine and "doing well".

Kejriwal's appeal on Monday was backed by actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha.

"...Kejriwal has certainly shown statesmanship and has appealed the officers to get back to work. He has moved two steps. Hope the so-called strike of the bureaucrats ends now... After the appeal of Kejriwal, I trust the Prime Minister will also intervene and get the strike over. It will be a good step by him for the people of Delhi and democracy at large. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step," the Bharatiya Janata Party (bjp) MP tweeted.

On Sunday, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) members, along with Communist Party of India-Marxist activists, marched from Mandi House metro station towards the Prime Minister's residence but were stopped by the police at Parliament Street.

Four non-BJP Chief Ministers - West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee, Kerala's Pinarayi Vijayan, Karnataka's H.D. Kumaraswamy and Andhra Pradesh's N. Chandrababu Naidu - met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday at the NITI Aayog's fourth general council meeting and urged him to immediately resolve the problems of the Delhi government.

They have extended their support to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's sit-in.

--IANS

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