Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking him to introduce a Bill in Parliament to put an end to the sealing of shops in Delhi. Kejriwal also sought an appointment with the prime minister on the matter.

“The reason behind sealing is anomalies in the law,” Kejriwal wrote in the letter. “It is the responsibility of the central government to remove these anomalies.”

Kejriwal, who has threatened to go on hunger strike if the problem is not resolved by the end of the month, also wrote a letter to Congress President Rahul Gandhi. He asked the Opposition leader to raise his voice in Parliament against the Delhi municipal bodies’ move.

The civic body officials are acting against commercial establishments in the city on instructions from a Supreme Court-appointed committee. The sealing drive began on December 22, 2017, when shops and restaurants in south Delhi’s Defence Colony Market were shut down because of unauthorised constructions. The civic body has since taken action against shops in a number of markets such as Khan Market, Mehar Chand Market, and markets in Sundar Nagar, Hauz Khas, Rajendra Nagar, Chhatarpur and Vasant Kunj. The shops were sealed as they allegedly have not paid conversion charges, and for encroachment and illegal construction, among other things.

On Thursday, the police allegedly manhandled a photojournalist with a Hindi daily while he was covering the sealing drive in South East Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar. They even baton charged traders who were protesting against the South Delhi Municipal Corporation’s action.