Manish Sisodia: Centre should be held responsible for mess

Bengaluru: Commenting on the violence in Haryana and Punjab following the conviction of self-styled godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said the Central government should be held responsible for the whole mess. Mr Sisodia was in the city to participate in a round table conference on “Governance by People”.

“Making issues out of non-issues is the political strategy which the BJP is following from long. Be it the death of innocent children due to lack of oxygen supply or the recent violation of court order, BJP led governments do not focus on core issues,” he said.

“I am really worried about the situation prevailing over Haryana, Chandigarh and Punjab. What kind of situation are we having? An inquiry has to be done against those officers who bypassed court order allowing hundreds of cars and people to gather,” Mr Sisodia said. 

He wanted the Centre to be held responsible and wanted Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene. Asked if President’s Rule should be imposed, Mr Sisodia refused to answer the question, but said that political parties should respect people and constitution. 

Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party launched AAP Citizen Empower-ment (ACE) programme on Saturday, which is aimed at empowering common man. 

“The ACE platform has its roots in the principles of participatory democracy at ward level. It operates by considering different dimensions which includes involving people, generate awareness, train people to exercises their rights, involve administrative wing to deliver, and fight for citizens rights in case of any apathy,” said Prithvi Reddy, party’s state president. Citizens will be trained and empowered to use their right, he added. 

“We wish to commence from the grass root level and we will be contesting at 5,000 wards of 210 urban local bodies,” Reddy said.