JOIN USChief Minister Arvind Kejriwal requested his mentor Anna Hazare to address “heads of departments” at the Delhi Secretariat on Wednesday. Kejriwal extended the public invitation to Hazare while addressing farmers protesting against the land acquisition at Parliament Street.
“If Anna ji can come to the Secretariat for 10 minutes tomorrow, the Secretariat will become pure,” said Kejriwal. “I wish he visits the Secretariat tomorrow and addresses all heads of departments of the Delhi government,” added Kejriwal.
Hazare did not immediately confirm accepting the invitation. Earlier during his speech, Kejriwal said he would always consider Hazare like his “guru”, like his “father”.
Tuesday was the first time since he took over as Delhi’s CM Kejriwal was a part of any protest. He seized the opportunity to launch a severe attack on the central government and to show his support for the movement.
He said that even though matters related to land did not fall under his jurisdiction, he would do everything possible to ensure there is “no acquisition of anyone’s land in Delhi”.
“If there is a development project related to Metro, schools, colleges and such public facilities, I have seen people come forward willingly to give their land,” he said.
“The Delhi government will try its best not to take anyone’s land. If they are taken, we will pay full market rate,” he said, adding that the Centre’s law over land acquisition was a “delusion”.
“The amendments to the Act are against the farmers and the poor and we strongly oppose it. The Congress government too had snatched poor people’s land and given them to businessmen. They became arrogant and people threw them out. People expected better from the BJP, but their government is behaving like property dealers for the big businessmen,” he said.
“The BJP won big in May last year, but the people of Delhi threw the party out within eight months,” he said referring to BJP’s rout in the recently concluded Delhi Assembly elections.
“If you bulldoze the public, the public will bulldoze you back,” he added.