Rift deepens! Anshu Prakash attends Arvind Kejriwal’s Cabinet meet, AAP alleges conspiracy to destabilise govt

It seems the controversy over the alleged assault on Delhi Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash at CM Arvind Kejriwal’s residence will not end soon. On Tuesday, Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party accused Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash of “conspiring” to destabilise the elected government of Delhi. The statement came on the day top officials attended the first Cabinet meeting since the alleged assault on Anshu Prakash. Chaired by the chief minister, the meeting took place at Delhi Secretariat in the afternoon. Prakash, hours before the meeting, wrote a letter to Kejriwal, saying he will attend the meeting but on one condition. Prakash’s letter said his presence in the meeting is based on the assumption that the CM “will ensure that there is no physical attack and verbal assault on the officers”. He added that he expected a proper decorum during the meeting.

The meeting was attended by all the ministers except Gopal Rai, who is in Kerala for medical treatment. The meeting also saw the presence of Principal Secretary (Finance) S N Sahai and Secretary of the General Administration Department Manoj Parida. Starting at 3 pm, the meeting lasted 15-20 minutes. Several top officials were seen wearing black bands as a mark of solidarity with Prakash when Kejriwal made his way into the meeting.

Prakash, who alleged he was assaulted at the CM’s residence on February 19, was supported by the joint forum of government employees in his resolve to communicate with ministers only through written means till Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia issue an apology.

In his letter, Prakash made it clear that the decision not to attend the meeting was taken to finalise dates for the Budget session. Delhi’s Budget session will take place in the third week of March. Also, officers had resolved they may attend meetings in the “larger public interest”.

However, despite Prakash’s gesture of attending the meet, AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj held a press conference and alleged that Prakash, Baijal and Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik were conspiring against the elected government. He added that the trio provoked the IAS association and instigated other employee unions to assault ministers at the Secretariat. The AAP leader alleged that IAS Association called a meeting at the behest of CS and L-G. He added that the officers had thrashed Minister Imran Hussain and his staff.