In the wake of the alleged assault on Delhi Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash by a few Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs, Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken and former chief minister Sheila Dikshit met Lieutenant Governor (LG) Anil Baijal today and demanded security for the administrative officers.
Maken told the LG the MLAs involved in the incident should not be spared and that AAP supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal should apologise for the incident.
Describing the manhandling of the chief secretary as an unfortunate incident, the Congress leader said there was an administrative crisis and that the self-respect of the officers was being undermined.
"We have requested the LG to ensure the security of the administrative officers, so that they may work with dignity and without any fear. There should be no political pressure on the officers, they should be able to work independently and impartially," Maken told reporters.
He also alleged that the Kejriwal government was intentionally getting involved in this kind of incidents to divert the attention of the people from its failures.
Pointing out that there were differences of opinion between the MLAs and officials when Dikshit was the chief minister, Maken said the latter had given out a strong message that the dignity and self-respect of officers should be maintained.
Dikshit said the role of the bureaucrats was very important to run any government or organisation as they were the ones who implemented the policies.
"The Kejriwal government should apologise to the administrative officers and ensure that this kind of incidents do not happen again. We never called the chief secretary and other officials at midnight for a meeting, barring emergency situations like during riots," she said.
Dikshit added that they had made these submissions before the LG.
"If the dignity of the government officers is not maintained, the administrative structure of Delhi will collapse," she said.
Hitting out at Kejriwal, Dikshit said it was irresponsible on his part to go to Karnataka when a crisis was brewing in the national capital.
Dikshit and Maken were accompanied by a few former Delhi ministers.
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