Conspiracy Being Hatched to Impose President's Rule in Delhi: Atishi

Delhi Cabinet minister Atishi on Friday alleged that a big political conspiracy is being hatched by the BJP-led central government to impose President’s Rule in the national capital.

“Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest is a political conspiracy to topple his government. We have learnt from reliable sources that in the coming days, the President’s Rule will be imposed in Delhi. But imposing President’s Rule in Delhi will be illegal and against the mandate of people,” she said at a press conference here.

Reacting to the AAP leader’s charge, Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva said it was surprising that the “fear of President’s Rule” was haunting the Aam Aadmi Party, which has 62 MLAs in the Assembly.

Sachdeva also demanded the resignation of Kejriwal from the post of chief minister.

At the press conference, Atishi claimed that in recent times, many events have happened that indicate the possibility of the imposition of the President’s Rule in the national capital.

The minister said that in the last few months, no senior IAS officer has been posted in Delhi.

“Posts are lying vacant in departments but no postings have taken place. Bureaucrats have stopped attending meetings called by ministers, citing the Model Code of Conduct. The lieutenant governor has been writing letters to the MHA over the functioning of the Delhi government,” she alleged.

The minister said the BJP already knew that it “cannot come to power” in the national capital.

“AAP has defeated the BJP in the Delhi Assembly elections in 2015 and 2020. That is why they want to topple the Delhi government. But the imposition of the President’s Rule will be illegal since the Delhi government enjoys a majority. We proved our majority through a floor test on February 17 this year,” she said.

Sachdeva, however, slammed Atishi over this and charged that Kejriwal was feeling the heat of the Delhi High Court’s rebuke.

“Atishi’s usual false narrative of her victimisation and Operation Lotus story has now been replaced by a new story early this morning. Today, she has said that President’s Rule is likely to be imposed in Delhi,” he said.

“It would be better if Arvind Kejriwal resigns — hand over the government to a new chief minister and let Delhi’s administration run properly,” Sachdeva added.