Political expediency of imposing President Rule in Delhi in spotlight 

Atishi alleges Centre to President’s Rule in Delhi

By Manish Anand

New Delhi, April 12: Delhi Minister Atishi Marlena claimed that the Centre is bracing to impose President’s Rule in the national capital. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) countered, saying the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is mired in internal strife over leadership issues.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Delhi Chief Minister on March 21. Delhi Chief Minister is away from the city secretariat now for 20 days. Atishi claimed in a presser that officials in the Delhi government are no longer attending meetings called by ministers.

“The Centre is not appointing officials in Delhi for months. The officials are not attending meetings. The Centre is set to impose President’s Rule in Delhi,” said Atishi in a press conference.

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The Delhi minister alleged that the Centre is hatching conspiracies to impose President’s Rule in the national capital. The Centre has imposed President’s Rule with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the helm very sparingly. President’s Rule was imposed in Jammu and Kashmir in the run up to the abrogation of Article 370.

The BJP leader RP Singh countered Atishi, saying that the AAP in Delhi is mired in leadership crisis. Singh said that the incumbent chief minister is in jail. He also spoke of Sunita Kejriwal, wife of Arvind Kejriwal, in the leadership tussle within the AAP.
A group of AAP MPs from Punjab on Friday met Sunita Kejriwal. This meeting took place in the backdrop of speculations that the Punjab unit of the AAP has been staying away from Sunita Kejriwal. Raghav Chadha, a prominent face of the AAP, is missing from the scene while Kejriwal is in jail.

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Arvind Kejriwal is moving to the Supreme Court to challenge the ED case against him in the Delhi Excise Policy. He faced a setback in the Delhi High Court where it was ruled that the ED case is backed with strong evidence.

Amid the likelihood that Arvind Kejriwal’s last hope lies with the Supreme Court, the AAP may not rush to replace him as the chief minister of the national capital. Also, the BJP leaders argue that they would rather hope the AAP to implode amid the leadership tussle.

Union Minister for Defence Rajnath Singh also took potshots at the AAP. He said that if the AAP leader Sanjay Singh can get a bail, then Arvind Kejriwal should also be hopeful. Lok Sabha elections for seven parliamentary constituencies in Delhi will be held on May 25.

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About The Author

Manish Anand

Manish Anand is a senior journalist with more than two decades of hardcore reporting on beats such as Prime Minister’s Office, Parliament, BJP, Congress, Planning Commission, NITI Aayog, and scores of Union Ministries.

His past has been with The New Indian Express, The Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle, and The Statesman.

For about 15 years, Manish was also a regular commentator and host for talks on AIR on foreign affairs.

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