Kejriwal meets Shah, Shaheen Bagh didn't come up during talks
What's the story
After sweeping Delhi Assembly polls, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal met Union Home Minister Amit Shah at North Block on Wednesday and had a "fruitful" conversation. However, the ongoing protest at Shaheen Bagh didn't come up during the talks, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said. "Both of us agreed that we will work together for development of Delhi, (sic)" Kejriwal tweeted.
Context
On Sunday, Kejriwal took oath for the third consecutive time
On February 11, AAP won 62 of the 70 seats of Delhi, marking the return of Kejriwal as the CM. Though AAP performed worse than 2015 (it won 67 seats), the win was spectacular, nevertheless. On the other hand, BJP won merely eight seats, despite a star-studded campaign that included Union Ministers, Chief Ministers, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Congress won zero seats.
Meeting
Shah, Kejriwal kept differences aside, discussed various issues
Political pundits saw the election as a direct battle between Shah and Kejriwal. At one point during electioneering, Kejriwal challenged Shah for debate too. Now, keeping all the bad blood aside, Kejriwal and Shah met today, exchanged smiles and spoke about various issues. "We agreed that the Central and Delhi government need to work together for the development of Delhi," Kejriwal said.
Twitter Post
Shaheen Bagh wasn't discussed: Kejriwal
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, when asked if Home Minister Amit Shah and he discussed the matter of Shaheen Bagh during their meeting: There was no discussion on that. https://t.co/IerGZ6SKyW
— ANI (@ANI) February 19, 2020
Shaheen Bagh
Using Shaheen Bagh, BJP attacked Kejriwal
To recall, the protest at Shaheen Bagh became an election issue for BJP, that accused Kejriwal of fanning anti-India sentiments. BJP's leader Parvesh Verma touched a new low in Indian politics when he said that protesters of Shaheen Bagh would rape women of Delhi. He had also said that if BJP comes to power the site would be vacated within an hour.
Details
Kejriwal wondered why Centre wasn't doing anything
Though Kejriwal largely stayed away from commenting on the agitation against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), he asked why was the Centre not doing anything about the traffic woes. While he said protesting was fine, Kejriwal didn't approve of the fact that the agitation was leading to congestion on roads. To note, Shaheen Bagh comes within Okhla constituency, from where AAP's Amanatullah Khan won.