Delhi chief secretary alleges assault by AAP MLA's, party denies charges

In a shocking incident, two Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs allegedly assaulted Delhi Chief Secretary at the residence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday night.

As per media reports, the Delhi top bureaucrat was roughed up during a meeting on the door-to-door delivery of essential government services.

The incident has come to light on Tuesday, after Delhi Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash met Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and registered a complaint against the MLA's.

Prakash alleged that he was assaulted by Ajay Dutt and Prakash Jharwal at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence.

However, the Chief Minister's office denied the allegations saying the incident never took place.

In a statement, Kejriwal's office termed the allegation by Delhi Chief Secy bizzare and alleged that Chief Secy is playing into the hands of BJP.

"Delhi CM office strongly denies allegations by the Chief Secretary. There was no incident of assault or attempted assault by any AAP MLAs."

Narrating the incident, AAP leader Atishi Marlena said that "About 2.5 lakh families deprived of rations last month due to faulty implementation of Aadhaar. MLAs were under tremendous pressure from public. There was a meeting of MLAs at CM residence. The chief secretary refused to answer questions saying that he was not answerable to MLAs and CM and that he was answerable only to LG. He even used bad language against some MLAs and left without answering any questions," said AAP.

It further said Prakash was trying to disrupt governance in the Capital.

"Now he is making such ludicrous allegations. Obviously, he is doing it at BJP's behest. BJP has stooped very low in disrupting governance in Delhi through LG and officers," a statement released by the party said.

Reacting to the incident, rebel AAP MLA and former Minister Kapil Mishra, said, "This has never happened in the history of India. As an MLA, I am ashamed that this incident has taken place."

Meanwhile, the IAS (Indian Administrative Service) officers' association has called an emergency meeting and reportedly demanding a police case against the Chief Minister and the two AAP lawmakers.

In what could lead to a major face-off between the AAP government and its bureaucracy, the IAS Association has called for a mass strike demanding action against the MLA's.

"We are going on a strike with immediate effect, we are with our Chief Secretary, until they (those at fault) are not arrested we will not get back (to work)," said DN Singh, Delhi Administrative Subordinate Services President.

We have urged LG to take legal action be taken against those responsible. This is like a constitutional crisis, never seen such a thing happen in the past many years:DN Singh, Delhi Administrative Subordinate Services President on alleged assault of Delhi Chief Secy Anshu Prakash pic.twitter.com/3AsJSgzs9s

— ANI (@ANI) February 20, 2018

"We have urged LG to take legal action be taken against those responsible. This is like a constitutional crisis, never seen such a thing happen in the past many years," he further said.

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