Delhi sealing: CM Arvind Kejriwal threatens to go on hunger strike

Arvind Kejriwal said on Friday that he would go on a hunger strike if the issue of the ongoing sealing drive in the national capital is not resolved by March 31.

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New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said here on Friday that he would go on a hunger strike if the issue of the ongoing sealing drive in the national capital is not resolved by March 31.

"If the sealing issue is not resolved before March 31 then I will sit on hunger strike. We all will together put pressure on the central government," Kejriwal said, while addressing a group of traders at Lajpat Nagar in south Delhi. 

The Chief Minister said he had met many traders and spoken to them about the issue.

"A change is necessary in the master plan, many laws need to be changed. The proposed amendments made by the DDA were rejected by the Supreme Court. Ordinance is the only possible solution to the sealing drive," he said.

Kejriwal said that on Saturday he would write a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urge him to inquire into the ongoing sealing. 

The Chief Minister also said he would meet Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri next week on the issue.

He said the AAP government will also pass a resolution in the Delhi Assembly's budget session, which is set to start from March 16, urging the Central government to bring an ordinance to stop the sealing drive. 

The sealing drive is being carried out by a Supreme Court-appointed Monitoring Committee against business establishments using residential properties for commercial purposes, and it is being implemented by the three BJP-led Municipal Corporations of Delhi.