Mamata Banerjee denied permission to meet Arvind Kejriwal as his sit-in at Delhi LG's office continues

New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was on Saturday denied permission to meet her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal, who is sitting on protest at his office-cum-residence, Raj Niwas, by Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal on Saturday denied permission. "Permission denied by LG. Extremely sad state of affairs," Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Raghav Chadha tweeted. 

CMs of WB, AP, Karnataka, Kerala writes letter to @LtGovDelhi, Asking permission to meet @ArvindKejriwal who is on Protest at LG House. pic.twitter.com/2XCaexsgHW

— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) June 16, 2018

4 CMs @MamataOfficial @ncbn Pinarayi Vijayan & HD Kumaraswamy reached @ArvindKejriwal's residence, meeting family of AK & colleagues.

They will be moving towards LG House, shortly. pic.twitter.com/XuhyqaO6EX — AAP (@AamAadmiParty) June 16, 2018

Permission denied by LG. Extremely sad state of affairs. https://t.co/s2iihd2Hyf — Raghav Chadha (@raghav_chadha) June 16, 2018

Stopping democratically elected CM of West Bengal from meeting her counterpart, democratically elected CM of Delhi is extremely petty. Shows the insecurity of PM Modi. https://t.co/F5dLgtRmRy

— Raghav Chadha (@raghav_chadha) June 16, 2018

Kejriwal followed it up with -"This is getting more and more bizarre..."

This is getting more and more bizarre... https://t.co/206EK22bsJ — Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) June 16, 2018

I don’t think Hon’ble LG can take such a decision on his own. Obviously, PMO has directed him to refuse permission. Just like IAS strike is being done at PMO’s instance. https://t.co/hKEe99s8Fp — Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) June 16, 2018

We live in a democracy. Can PM deny Hon’ble CMs of other states to meet CM of another state? Raj Niwas is noone’s personal property. It belongs to the people of India. https://t.co/bB0w9OeDrV — Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) June 16, 2018

Kejriwal, along with Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Cabinet ministers Satyendar Jain and Gopal Rai, is camping at Raj Niwas since Monday demanding a direction to the IAS officers working in the Delhi administration to end their 'undeclared strike', among other demands.

The Delhi CM on Saturday alleged that there is de facto President's rule in Delhi because of what the AAP government describes as an ongoing IAS officers' strike. In response to a tweet about IAS officers withdrawing from work being de facto President's rule, Kejriwal tweeted, "I agree. It is de facto president's rule in Delhi through IAS strike."

Jain and Sisodia have been sitting on hunger strike at the waiting room of the LG secretariat since Tuesday and Wednesday respectively. Kejriwal has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to work with his officers not attending his meetings. In his letter to the PM on Friday, he urged him to end IAS officers' strike so that he can attend a meeting of NITI Aayog on Sunday.

Also, Sisodia on Friday released a video warning that if they are forcibly removed from the LG secretariat, they will stop drinking water too.

"मैं और @SatyendarJain दिल्ली की बेहतरी के लिए तपस्या कर रहे हैं, अगर LG साहब ज़बरदस्ती अनशन तुड़वाने की कोशिश करेंगे तो हम पानी भी त्याग देंगे"- @msisodia

pic.twitter.com/7fcLch0aQR — AAP Govt Supporter (@AAPGovt4Delhi) June 15, 2018

However, the IAS officers' association has maintained that no officer is on 'strike'.

Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court on Friday agreed to hear on June 18 a plea seeking direction to the L-G to ensure that the alleged informal strike by IAS officers of Delhi is called off and they perform their duties as public servants. The petition comes in the backdrop of another plea filed on Thursday in the court seeking that the sit-in by Kejriwal and his cabinet colleagues at the LG office against the "strike" by the IAS officers be declared unconstitutional and illegal. 

This plea against Kejriwal's sit-in was also listed for hearing for June 18.

(With IANS and PTI inputs)