Kejriwal’s ultimatum to Gadkari: Keep e-rickshaw promise or we will protest

AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Monday wrote to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, saying that if a solution to the problem of e-rickshaw drivers in Delhi was not found, a massive protest would be held on October 8.
In his letter, the former Delhi Chief Minister reminded Gadkari that when they had met on September 16, he had been told that a policy for e-rickshaw drivers was being formulated under the Motor Vehicles Rules, and that this would be notified in the next 10 days.
“When we contacted your department on the morning of September 28, we were told that the notification in this regard would take some more time. e-rickshaw drivers have now called for a protest on October 8,” Kejriwal said in the letter.
He said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi often says that red tape will be reduced and business will be made easy. But if the new government’s bureaucracy could not make a policy in four months, is the style of functioning the same as that of the Congress? Poor e-rickshaw drivers don’t want investment or anything else from the government, but only a policy for them.” Kejriwal pointed out that during a rally on June 17, Gadkari himself had announced that a new policy would be made, and that e-rickshaws would be taken outside the jurisdiction of the Motor Vehicles Act. “You had said the Act would be amended. But you did nothing after that, and everyone kept waiting. In my meeting with you on September 16, you conveyed that the Solicitor General had called your announcements illegal. Did you make the announcements without consulting him? I was shocked by what you said. How can a Cabinet minister make an announcement to the public without discussion or taking legal opinion?” Kejriwal wrote.