Sealing row: Delhi Assembly urges Centre to take prompt action, CM warns of hunger strike

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Assembly on Friday passed a resolution and urged the Centre to take prompt actions to end the ongoing sealing drive by the civic bodies in the national Capital.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal sought an embargo on the sealing drive to provide relief to the city traders. He once again declared that if the drive did not stop by March 31, he will go on strike with the traders.

The Chief Minister called the drive as a "dangerous attack" on traders and said an all-party delegation, including his Cabinet colleagues, would meet the Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee to resolve the issue.

"While a sealing drive is on, no shop of any politician has been sealed yet. The traders are facing a lot of problems. The immediate solution is that the Centre brings a moratorium on sealing for two years. Meanwhile, the government and other agencies can complete all formalities to amend the existing laws," Kejriwal said.

Moved by AAP MLA Sourabh Bharadwaj, the resolution stated that the "unjustified" sealing is a direct consequence of the "negligence and inefficiency" of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and the municipal corporations.

"The ongoing sealing drive in various markets has wreaked a havoc among traders and has left thousands of workers unemployed... It should be stopped immediately. De-seal the sealed shops," it stated.

It further stated that the Centre should take all possible steps, including bringing a new bill or amending existing laws in the ongoing Budget session of Parliament, to halt sealing with immediate effect.

The Leader of Opposition, Vijender Gupta, however, countered the allegations saying that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government was not introducing a bill to provide relief to traders from sealing. He also accused the AAP government of not appointing prominent lawyers to put up a strong case in the Supreme Court to halt the sealing drive being carried out since December.

Responding to Gupta's accusation, Kejriwal said the Delhi government has appointed prominent lawyers, adding that if the leader of Opposition has anyone else in mind, the government will go ahead with them.

(With inputs from DNA)