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Kejriwal lashes out at MHA notification, says Modi govt trying to run Delhi through backdoor

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Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi: After being issued a notification from the Home Ministry detailing just what powers he actually had, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal hit back alleging that the notification was an attempt to protect the corrupt and that the Narendra Modi government was trying to run the Delhi government through the Lieutenant-Governor.

The Delhi chief minister called the Centre’s notification “a gift from the Modi government for completing a year in office” and clarifying his relationship with the Lieutenant Governor, Kejriwal said “Jung saab ke saath koi Jung nahi hai” (There is no war with Jung).

However, he said that Lieutenant Governor has no actual powers as all his orders come from the top.

“Pre independence, Queen of England used to send notifications to the Viceroy here. Now, Jung Sahab is Viceroy & PMO is London. All orders come from the PMO,” Kejriwal said.

Continuing his attack on the Modi government, he went on to state that the notification proved that Modi with his 3 BJP MLA’s is trying to control the Delhi government through the backdoor.

“The BJP and Congress want to have their own officers in Delhi and get government contracts for their own people,” he alleged.

The Centre on Friday morning issued a notification which backed Jung and said that it was not mandatory for the Lieutenant Governor to consult the Chief Minister.

Kejriwal alleged that issuing the notification was very ‘unfair’ towards the people of Delhi, and said that the AAP government is doing very good work.

“We want to ask the Narendra Modi government, who are they trying to save through this notification?” he said

Kejriwal alleged that the government is rattled by the action taken by the Delhi government against corrupt officers and was attempting to protect corrupt officials by issuing the notification.

“They are saying that we can’t take any action against corrupt official in the central government,” he said.

Shifting his focus on Najeeb Jung, Kejriwal said, “The Lieutenant Governor has never asked about water or electricity, all they are interested in is transfer posting.”

He also added that it is because of the AAP government that a lot of money being paid for transfers has ended, a statement his deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia had made earlier.

“Probably the AAP government is one of the cleanest governments Delhi has ever seen,” Kejriwal said.

(Agencies)

Allow city govt to function independently: Kejriwal to Modi

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kejriwal_modi

New Delhi: Taking his fight against the LG to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today asked him to allow the city government to function “independently” even as he accused the Centre of trying to run the Delhi administration.

In a letter to Modi, Kejriwal mentioned the posting and transfers made by Lt Governor Najeeb Jung and said the elected government must have a say about distribution of work to senior officials.

“In Delhi, Central government is trying to run government unconstitutionally through the Lt Governor. Let Delhi government function independently,” Kejriwal said in the letter to Modi.

The letter by Kejriwal to the Prime Minister came a day after both he and Jung took their bitter fight to President Pranab Mukherjee, accusing each other of violating the Constitution and overstepping their respective jurisdictions.

The Lt Governor has been maintaining that he has the power to appoint and transfer the bureaucrats and none of his actions has been “unconstitutional” as was being alleged by the AAP government.

Kejriwal had yesterday met Mukherjee along with his deputy Manish Sisodia, who said “LG was functioning as if there is President’s Rule in the national capital and there is no elected government here.”

“Despite having a democratically elected government, he (LG) is bypassing the chief minister and ministers and issuing instructions to officers. He is even threatening them with transfers if they do not follow his orders. It is not good for democracy.

“We told the President that we accepted LG’s decision to appoint acting Chief Secretary even without consulting us. But after that too, he has been appointing officers bypassing the elected government.

He is even interfering in the appointments of secretaries and directly ordering them. Then where is democracy,” Sisodia had told reporters after meeting Mukherjee.

Jung had yesterday also met Home Minister Rajnath Singh on the issue and informed him about his stand-off with the AAP government.

The tussle over appointment of Shakuntala Gamlin as acting chief secretary of Delhi had turned into a full-blown war between the AAP government and Jung with Kejriwal alleging that the LG was trying to take over the administration.

Despite Kejriwal’s strong opposition, Jung had appointed her to the post on Friday.

(PTI)

Yadav, Bhushan support Kejriwal in tussle with Delhi Lieutenant Governor

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Photo: Arvind Yadav, HT

Photo: Arvind Yadav, HT

New Delhi: Swaraj Abhiyan, a group formed by ousted AAP leaders Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan, came out in support of Delhi dispensation in its tussle with Lt Governor Najeeb Jung over appointments, saying the choice of a democratically elected government should be respected.

It, however, condemned dragging of bureaucracy in the “petty” political fight.

“In principle, Swaraj Abhiyan believes that the choice of a democratically elected government should be respected by Delhi’s Lieutenant-Governor. But the politics of personal allegations, brinkmanship and dragging of the bureaucracy into petty political fights is unfortunate.

“Swaraj Abhiyan condemns it and believes that such a culture is not conducive to the health of democracy,” a statement from the group said.

The Delhi government has locked horns in a power tussle with Lt Govenor Najeeb Jung over appointment of Shakuntala Gamlin as acting Chief Secretary, which was opposed by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

The group also supported the AAP’s stand for full statehood to Delhi.

“Swaraj Abhiyan considers the demand for full statehood to Delhi as a genuine one. Parties like Congress and BJP have been adopting double standards and fooling the people on a critical issue. In the spirit of the democracy and benefit of citizens, we believe that important government decisions should always be taken with the elected government in confidence,” it said.

Swaraj Abhiyan hopes that both the sides show maturity, rise above ego-clash and petty political fights in order to break the deadlock so that the people of Delhi do not have to suffer, it added.

Just before Yadav and Bhushan were ousted from AAP last month, along with Anand Kumar and Ajit Jha, the rebel leaders organised an convention called Swaraj Samvad, which was followed by formation of the group called Swaraj Abhiyan.

(Agencies)

AAP government again at loggerheads with Lieutenant Governor over Chief Secretary appointment

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Najeeb Jung Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi: The Delhi government, headed by Arvind Kejriwal, has landed in fresh controversy by taking on Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung. Today, in a press release, the government accused Mr Jung of bypassing it and unconstitutionally appointing senior bureaucrat Shakuntala Gamlin as the acting Chief Secretary of the Delhi Government. The Governor has defended his decision.

Chief Secretary KK Sharma in currently on leave and Mr Jung made the appointment today after Ms Gamlin wrote a scathing letter to Jung claiming that she was pressurised by a senior bureaucrat in CM’s office not to be in race for the post due to her alleged proximity to BSES discoms, reported news agency Press Trust of India.

In its statement, the government said there were reservations about Ms Gamlin. “She was perceived to be extremely close to electricity companies in Delhi and was lobbying for their interests within the Government,” read the release from the Directorate of Information and Publicity.

But the Lieutenant Governor, it went on to add, appointed Ms Gamlin “in a completely unconstitutional manner”.

Within hours, Mr Jung’s office responded, saying the LG was authorised by the Constitution to make appointments in consultation with the Chief Minister.

In this case, the Governor approved the name of Ms Gamlin against the name proposed by the Chief Minister as “she was senior and has a proven track record”, said the statement.

The file containing the Governor’s advice was pending in the Chief Minister’s office for 36 hours, after which the appointment was made “since the office of the Chief Secretary cannot be left inordinately vacant,” the statement read.

The fresh controversy comes days as the party puts behind a month-long internal feud that ended with the expulsion of founder members Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav. The acrimony had been bitter and public, marked by comments on social media and media conferences from both sides.

“Mr Kejriwal and his colleagues need to understand that there is a constitutional mandate by which a government runs,” said BJP leader Nalin Kohli.

(Agencies)

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