BJP vs AAP: Delhi Top Bureaucrat’s Version Questioned

The alleged attack on Delhi chief secretary Anshu Prakash by two AAP legislators is getting curiouser and curiouser. While the Delhi Police – under the Central Govt.’s control – has moved speedily to arrest the alleged attacker after an FIR by Prakash, questions are now surfacing about it’s timing, the delay in medical checkup, the tardiness in taking action against the mob which attacked an AAP minister and the very agenda of the midnight meeting that Prakash attended.

Terming the allegation by Prakash a “pack of lies”, an AAP MLA, who requested anonymity given the sensitive nature of the case, asked several questions, “If the chief secretary was assaulted, why did he wait for an entire day to register a complaint with Delhi Police? Why is there a mismatch in the timing of MLC at Aruna Asaf Ali Hospital? After this alleged assault, more than two hundreds strong mob stormed the Delhi Secretariat and attacked Imran Hussain, Ashish Khetan and their security men. Why is the Delhi Police keeping mum on this grave security breach and why is there no action against the culprits? Who are these people? How did they enter the high security Delhi Secretariat building?”

Prakash was allegedly assaulted on the night of 19 February at a meeting at the CM’s residence. According to the FIR, the police received the complaint by the chief secretary regarding the alleged attack on him at 1 pm on February 20. The MLC – accessed by Newsclick – says that the chief secretary was brought to Aruna Asaf Ali Government Hospital at 9:05 pm on February 20 when the FIR was already filed.

The AAP MLA said it cannot be possible without “inside support and top orders from the Union government”. The crux of the whole episode is that – he said – it was a “well-planned strategy to divert the attention of mainstream media from massive PNB scam to Delhi government alleged highhandedness”. “The entire incident was well drafted by the someone who directly controls Delhi’s top bureaucracy i.e. the Ministry of Home Affairs, the PMO and Delhi State BJP Office bearers,” he alleged.

Prakash’s claim that he was summoned to the midnight meet to “discuss with the chief minister and deputy chief minister the issue of the difficulty in release of certain TV advertisements relating to completion of three years of the current government in Delhi” has also been questioned.

His allegation, say sources in the Delhi government, is “partly true”. “Release of the advertisement was one of the agenda items of the meeting but not the only thing that was to be discussed. The minutes of the meeting had, on top, the break down in the Public Distribution System with the introduction of Aadhaar biometrics to buy subsidised ration under the scheme,” at least two top-ranking sources in the government told Newsclick.

“Though it is true that he (the chief secretary) was shoved and heckled by AAP legislators present in the meeting, but the issue of the release of government campaigns on completion of its three years was only highlighted [by the police] and the other issue which was on top of the agenda was ignored in the police complaint to make a strong case against the MLAs,” one of them said.

The other official, while agreeing with the former, questioned the timing of the meeting. “What was the need to call such a high-ranking officer so late at night. The concern of the government was genuine, but the timing of the meeting was nothing but aimed at harassing the public servant. Heavens had not fallen, the issue could have been discussed the next day,” he said.

Prakash – according to his complaint – had “suggested that the meeting could be held on February 20 at 10 am instead of 12 midnight on February 19”.

Reports had suggested lakhs of beneficiaries were unable to buy ration after Aadhaar-based point-of-sale machines came into use last month. The Delhi government on February 20 withdrew its earlier decision that had made Aadhaar mandatory to get benefit of the scheme, arguing that officers of the PDS department implemented it differently from what the Cabinet had proposed because of which neither the theft stopped, nor were beneficiaries able to get the subsidised ration they deserved.

Sources in the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) had earlier suggested during a conversation with Newsclick that Aadhaar biometrics authentication can “never been done in entirety”. “In 10 percent cases, there will be mismatch of the mandatory information because of various reasons such as finger prints of older people gets faded, etc. Similarly, the necessary information needed to secure the random 12-digit number as the unique identity can never be obtained because of the same reasons. If any public scheme is linked to Aadhaar, such a problem is bound to happen,” he said.

Meanwhile, AAP minister Rajendra Pal Gautam was detained on February 22 as he was moving towards Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s residence along with some party workers to protest against the “casteist remarks” made by Chief Secretary Prakash.

This came two days after the AAP’s Ambedkar Nagar legislator Ajay Dutt filed a police complaint against Prakash for making the remarks during the meeting at CM’s residence.

A party official said the protest was also called against the “biased inquiry” done by the Delhi Police against their legislators – Amanatullah Khan and Prakash Jarwal – who were taken into judicial custody on Wednesday for allegedly assaulting the chief secretary.

AAP minister Imran Hussain was manhandled at the Delhi Secretariat by a crowd protesting against the alleged assault and his personal secretary Himanshu Singh was beaten up, according to multiple video clips from the Delhi Secretariat.

The party complained that no action was taken against those who attacked Hussain and his aide.