THE CONGRESS LEADERS ENDED THE GHERAO AFTER A WRITTEN ASSURANCE FROM THE CHIEF SECRETARY—WORK STOPPED AT THE DELHI SECRETARIAT FOR TWO HOURS.

Seeking to find a solution to the power and water crisis in Delhi, the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC), strengthening its agitation against the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party, today began a  do-or-die fight. In this connection, the Congress leaders today  met Delhi’s chief secretary Shri Sanjay Srivastav, and unhappy with the steps taken by the administration, gheraoed the chief secretary in his office. During the gherao, neither any official was allowed to go out of  the chief secretary’s office, nor anyone was allowed in. During the meeting with the chief secretary, the Congress MLAs and leaders also had heated exchanges with the power and  urban development secretaries. The Congress Party also sought the withdrawl of the direction by the Lt. Governor to switch off the street lights to save power, as it would be a big threat to the safety and security of women.

Under the leadership of DPCC president Shri Arvinder Singh, MLA, CLP leader Shri Haroon Yusuf, Congress MLAs Jaikishan, Mateen Ahmed, Hassan Ahmed, Prahlad Singh Sahni, Devinder Yadav, Asif Mohammad Khan, senior leader and DPCC spokesperson Shri Mukesh Sharma, ex-Ministers Smt. Kiran Walia, Dr Yoganand Shastri, Shri Ramakanth Goswami, Shri Mangatram Singhal and Dr Narendra Nath had a prearranged meeting with the chief secretary. During the meeting, the Congress leaders strongly criticized the administration and said the power and water situation in Delhi was getting worse than in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Shri Mukesh Sharma, during the meeting with the chief secretary at 12.50 p.m, warned him and announced the decision to gherao him, and locked him from inside his office.  For over two  hours, the chief secretary and other officials were subjected to ghearo in the chief secretary’s office.

The Congress MLAs and former MLAs shouted slogans against the BJP, the Aam Aadmi Party and its convenor Shri Arvind Kejriwal. They wondered what kind of Capital it was—without power and water. Slogans such as “BJP and AAP hai, hai; Smt. Sonia Gandhi Zindabad etc” reverberated in the Delhi Secretariat. All the junior and senior officials of the secretariat also assembled, and for till about 2.30 p.m, all work at the Delhi Secretariat had come to a standstill.

Shri Arvinder Singh was given a written assurance by the chief secretary by 2.40 p.m. Urban Development secretary Shri Rajendra Kumar gave the written assurance of the chief secretary to Shri Arvinder Singh following which, the Congress leaders called off the gherao. Shri Arvinder Singh then allowed the chief secretary to leave the conference room for his room, but the main door of his chamber had been jammed by the Congress leaders.  Shri Asif Mohammed Khan, Ch. Mateen Ahmed and Shri Jaikishan took the administration officials to task in strong words.

Shri Arvinder Singh later told reporters that the Congress party will continue its agitation till the power and water crisis was solved.  He said the BJP, which had promised to bring good days, has forced the people to revert back to invertors at home about which they had almost forgotten. He said had Arvind Kejriwal taken some action plan to tackle the power and water shortage in summer, the people of Delhi would not have had to endure such a plight now. He made it clear that it was the responsibility of the power distribution companies to meet the power demands of the people. He recalled that the Congress had made Delhi rid of power cuts in its 15-year rule, but now the people were facing acute shortage of power and water, which has reminded the people of the BJP rule from 1993 to 1998.

Shri Arvinder Singh warned that if the power and water situation did not improve fast, the Lt. Governor of Delhi and the Union Power Minister will be gheraoed. And if the need arises, the Congress will not back out from creating chakka-jaams on the roads of Delhi. Others who participated in the gherao were Naseeb Singh, Surender Kumar, Bhisham Sharma, Dayanand Chandela, Kunwar Karan Singh, Rajesh Jain, Rajesh Lilothia, Nand Kishore,  Veer Singh Dhingan, Jaswant Rana, Tarwinder Singh Marwah, Vijay Lochav and Sumesh Shokeen.