Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann reached Jantar Mantar, joined the protest of opposition ruled states

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also extended its support to the protest by the Chief Ministers of Karnataka and Kerala at Jantar Mantar in Delhi against the economic discrimination being done by the Central Government with the opposition ruled states. On Thursday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann joined the demonstration and showed their solidarity against the Centre.

Addressing the gathering, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann thanked Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and said that he has taken important initiatives to save the Constitution, democracy and federal structure of the country.

He said that at present the attitude of the Central Government towards the states is very worrying. Budget session days are going on, today we would be sitting in our offices making our state budgets, but we have to come to Jantar Mantar for our rights.

He said that Punjab is an agrarian state. The farmers of the state produce 182 lakh metric tons of rice every year and give it to the country. Still, the Central Government is withholding Rs 5500 crore of our Rural Development Fund (RDF). This fund is used to construct and repair the mandis and the roads leading to the mandis in the rural areas. We had to approach the Supreme Court in this matter.

He said that on one hand the Center is withholding our funds and on the other hand the Governor appointed by the Center creates problems for us in daily functioning and works of the government. Last time he declared the Punjab Assembly session illegal. Then we had to stop the session midway and go to the Supreme Court. There, on the very first date, the court reprimanded him and gave us permission to call the session.

In states where BJP is not even in opposition, BJP governors act as opposition. He writes a new letter to the government every day. I have never seen that the Governor of any BJP ruled states of Gujarat, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh meddling in the works of government there or writing letters to any Chief Minister.

In the Governor case, the Supreme Court gave its verdict in our favor and said that in a democracy, only the elected people have the right to rule. The Governor should not interfere in the functioning of the government. The court said that the Governor does not have the right to stop the bills passed by the Assembly. The Supreme Court has given a similar decision in the Kerala Governor case also.

Similarly, the BJP showed its dictatorial face in the Chandigarh Mayoral election. By using force, they cancelled the votes of our 8 councilors and made their own mayor. The Supreme Court was also surprised to see the fraud of the presiding officer appointed by the BJP. The Chief Justice said that democracy was murdered in the Chandigarh Mayor elections and asked to take action against the people responsible for it.

The Chief Minister accused the Central Government that in order to release some central funds, we are asked to put the photo of Prime Minister Modi on the things related to the schemes. They said that if this condition is not met, the funds will not be released.

*Arvind Kejriwal attacked BJP – Central government is using ED as a weapon*

The Aam Aadmi Party national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal attacked the BJP and the Modi government at the Center during his speech at Jantar Mantar. He said that the central government is using ED as its weapon. Earlier, a leader would be jailed after corruption charges were proved. Now ED first sends opposition leaders to jail and then thinks what charges should be leveled against them.