The first breakthrough in the standoff between the government and the Sarsour Janta Party (CJP) was quickly followed by a dispute over who initiated the talks. While Union Minister JP Nadda said the suggestion came from the protesters, CJP leaders maintained that the government first reached out through the Delhi Police to open a communication channel.
What did JP Nadda say?
In a post on X after the meeting, JP Nadda said the initiative came from the protesters.
“This morning, for the first time, a proposal came from the protesters to hold talks with the government. Our discussions have been going on since 11.50 am. The meeting was held in a cordial atmosphere. A preliminary verbal discussion was held in detail with their delegation. They submitted a written petition to me around 4 pm. I requested all the protesters to end their sit-in and help the administration restore normalcy,” he wrote.
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What did the General People’s Congress Party say?
However, CJP spokesperson Sourav Das gave a different account before the meeting began.
At 11:52 am, Das posted on
CJP leader Ashutosh Ranka also said that the first contact came through Delhi Police. He wrote in an earlier post: “Delhi Police has informed us of the government’s readiness to talk this morning. But no progress has been made on this matter for the last five hours. Is the government trying to deliberately delay discussions?”
Ranka later said that he and Das finally met Nada after waiting for more than two hours.
“Ashutosh Ranka and I just met JP Nadda ji at his residence for 10 minutes. While we are submitting a written letter with our demands, he has assured us that he will speak internally in the meantime. We are in the process. There is news of mass arrests etc,” he posted in the afternoon.
In a subsequent post, Ranka explained how communication between the two sides developed. “To clarify the facts, it was only late last night that the Communist Party in New Delhi reached out to open a channel of communication with the government.”
“There were more serious discussions starting at 6 am only today and only at around 11.45 am was there agreement to meet Nadda ji. We finally met Nadda ji 10 minutes ago and he is checking with the leadership internally on our demands,” he added.
Ranka also urged Delhi Police to stop action against protesters, saying, “Delhi Police must immediately stop using brute force against peaceful protesters.”
The meeting between the CJP delegation and Nadda came on a day when thousands of protesters gathered in central Delhi to participate in the ‘Chalo Sansad’ rally organized by the party.
