Over 5,000 Multi Tasking Staff (MTS) employees have been on strike outside the Civic Centre for 11 days, demanding equal pay for equal work — a demand backed by senior AAP leader and MP Sanjay Singh, who, along with several party MLAs and councillors, met the protesting workers on Thursday. Coming down hard on the BJP, Sanjay Singh said the party has defied even the Supreme Court’s order on equal pay, exposing a government whose “four engines have completely broken down.”
Sanjay Singh declared that only sustained struggle and protest can fix a system crippled by BJP’s neglect, assuring workers that the AAP stands firmly with them until justice is delivered. AAP MLAs Kuldeep Kumar, Vishesh Ravi, and Aaley Mohammad Iqbal, along with MCD co-incharge Praveen Kumar, Preeti Dogra, and several councillors, joined the protest in solidarity.
Senior AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh on Thursday tore into the BJP for its apathy towards over 5,000 MTS employees who have been on strike for the past 11 days outside the Civic Centre demanding equal pay for equal work. He said, “During the AAP government, Delhi’s LG would object to every single issue, but today, when MTS employees are sitting under the scorching sun for 11 days, the LG is missing in action. Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has no time to meet the employees, while MCD Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh sits comfortably in his air-conditioned office. On Wednesday, Rekha Gupta refused to meet the employees. These workers risked their lives during COVID to serve Delhi and carried out sanitisation across the city. Today they are fighting for equal pay, and the BJP government must fulfill their legitimate demands.”
Sanjay Singh added, “It was the AAP that secured MTS status for these employees in the MCD. Even the Supreme Court has ruled in favour of equal pay for equal work. The AAP worked for them and continues to stand firmly by their side in this fight. We will call the guilty by their name. The BJP’s so-called four-engine government has completely broken down. The only way to fix it is through struggle, protest, and relentless fight.”
Condemning the BJP’s defiance of judicial authority, Sanjay Singh said, “Even the Supreme Court has recognised the principle of equal pay for equal work, but these people have no respect for the Supreme Court. Look at their audacity—when the Chief Justice of India’s mother declined an invitation to an RSS event, the BJP and RSS conspired to have a shoe thrown at the Chief Justice himself. These people have no respect for the Supreme Court, for Parliament, or for the opposition. That is why only the path of struggle and movement remains. The Aam Aadmi Party will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with these workers in their fight.”
Lashing out at the BJP’s vendetta politics, Sanjay Singh said, “They have done everything possible to crush the AAP. They jailed Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain, and me. Our only crime was that we were building good schools, hospitals, and ensuring employees’ rights. The people of Delhi have already seen the BJP’s governance in just seven or eight months — power cuts, flooded roads during rain — this is the broken four-engine government of the BJP that simply cannot run the city. The entire population of Delhi is suffering.”
Meanwhile, MCD LoP Ankush Narang said, “It has been 11 days since these employees went on strike, yet BJP Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh and Standing Committee Chairperson Satya Sharma have neither accepted their demands nor visited the protest site. Friday marks the auspicious festival of Karva Chauth, when women fast for the long lives of their husbands. But in 5,200 families of these workers, there is only despair today. The BJP government has shattered their hopes and dimmed their festival. Prime Minister Modi had promised safety and respect for the nation’s mothers and sisters, yet today these very women are struggling for their families’ survival.”
Ankush Narang added, “When hardworking employees are denied their rightful dues, it is not merely a departmental issue — it becomes a fight between justice and injustice. The Aam Aadmi Party will continue to stand by these workers until they receive every bit of their rightful pay.”
Addressing the employees, AAP MCD co-incharge Praveen Kumar said, “For 12 days now, over 5,000 MTS employees have been enduring the blazing heat on the streets. Just 5 meters away, BJP Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh sits comfortably in an air-conditioned room. The BJP’s four-engine government has time to roam across Delhi spreading propaganda, but not one leader, minister, or MLA has come to meet the striking employees. On Wednesday, the employees marched to meet Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, but she refused to meet them. Are these people outsiders? Rekha Gupta herself has been a councillor and a mayoral candidate. During COVID, these same workers disinfected the city when no one dared to step out of their homes. Today, dengue and malaria workers are fighting for their survival and equal pay, but the BJP remains indifferent. The AAP stands firmly with them. We ensured they got MTS status, and through struggle, we will ensure they get equal pay for equal work too.”
