Day 2 | Lathi charge at AAP protest site

The Delhi CM says his protest is indefinite and threatens to fill the street with lakhs of people, if the Centre does not concede his demands

The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday questioned the motive behind Delhi Chief Minister Arvind  Kejriwal's protest in the capital and alleged that it was being done to divert attention from governance issues.

"There is total chaos in Delhi. Delhi is a city that needs governance. It aspires to be a global city. Governments are run by the rule of law, not anarchy,” Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitely told CNN-IBN.

Delhi Police personnel resorted to lathicharge after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) protestors clashed with them at the agitation venue near Rail Bhawan.

Television channels are reporting that at least 11 people injured in clashes with police at AAP protest site. AAP minister Manish Sisodia blamed policemen for making the situation ‘unruly’. 

With protests showing no signs of ending, Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi has arrived at North Block to meet Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde.

Kejriwal on Tuesday told rediff.com, "Rajniti air condition kamro se nahi chalegi' Yeh to bas aise hi chalegi! (Politics will have to step out from AC rooms. Now this is the new way of politics).

 

Here are the latest developments in this story:

. Kejriwal on Tuesday said his protest was indefinite and threatened to fill the street with lakhs of people, if the central government does not concede his demands.

. The Delhi CM, who is said to be unwell, sat in his car for a short while this morning when it rained. Kejriwal, his six ministers and about 200 workers of his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) slept on the roadside near Rail Bhawan in the heart of Delhi, where they began an indefinite protest on Monday.

. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the public interest litigation filed against the agitation by Kejriwal and his party.

. Kejriwal has refused to move his dharna venue to Jantar Mantar saying he is the Delhi CM and he can sit on dharna wherever he wants to. The CM said: "Shinde should not shut the metros. The whole area has been cordoned off, tiolets in the buildings are closed. Who is Shinde to decide where we will protest? I am the CM of Delhi."

. The BJP has charged that Kejriwal is speaking the language of Maoists and is clueless about running the government and keeping his promises.

. A group of BJP activists led by Vijay Goel staged a protest in New Delhi demanding resignation of Law Minister Somnath Bharti for allegedly misbehaving with women in south Delhi last week.

. The Delhi CM is staging the protest to press his demand to suspend five police officials and the transfer of control of Delhi police to the state government. Delhi police are now under the administrative charge of the Union home ministry.

. Union Home Minister Shinde has turned down both demands. A retired judge is probing the incidents in which two AAP groups asked the police to raid private homes to bust alleged drug-and-sex rackets and register a dowry torture case.

. Law Minister Somanth Bharti, who is protesting along with the Chief Minister, was seen this morning coming out of the women's washroom at the Press Club, though the men's toilet was right next to it, reports NDTV.com.