NEW DELHI:
The federal government has decided against directly meddling into the ongoing Delhi turf war between Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
A decision to this effect was taken after federal home minister Rajnath Singh called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The federal government is of the opinion the turf tussle between Kejriwal and Jung is nothing more than a clash of egos. “The LG and Chief Minister should sort it out,” Singh said after the meeting.
“The Lt Governor and Chief Minister should take a solution to this issue. Both should sit together and resolve the issue,” Singh added.
There were, however, no signs of Jung and Kejriwal trying to resolve the lingering crisis which has crippled the functioning of the provincial Delhi government.
Jung Wednesday cancelled all appointments and transfers ordered by the Kejriwal government over the past four days, asserting that under the constitution, all appointments and transfers are prerogative of the Lt Governor. His office said the Kejriwal government did not even try to inform the LG’s office about transfers and postings carried out over the past four days.
Kejriwal government had locked official chamber of Delhi’s principal secretary Anindo Majumdar who had signed the LG’s order to appoint senior bureaucrat Shakuntala Gamlin as acting chief secretary of the provincial government.
Majumdar was removed from the post and his responsibilities were given to others since he refused to consult the chief minister who was opposed to Gamlin’s temporary appointment to the post.
Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia Wednesday held a lengthy meeting with all top bureaucrats of the Delhi government, including Gamlin. They were later joined by Kejriwal over a lavish lunch. The effort was seen as an attempt to win confidence of the bureaucrats with reports that several of them had sought postings outside Delhi to avoid getting trapped into the Jung versus Kejriwal crossfire. Kejriwal had on Monday instructed bureaucrats not to act on any verbal or written orders from the LG, unless it was routed through the concerned ministers and his office.
In an effort to make the tussle a national issue, Kejriwal Wednesday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in which he tried to target the Modi government itself by accusing the centre of trying to rule Delhi directly through the Lt Governor. He asked the prime minister to allow his government to function independently.
Kejriwal on Tuesday had called on President Pranab Mukherjee and complained to him that Jung was trying to rule Delhi as if it was still under President’s rule, ignoring the elected and popular government that he heads.
Ever since taking over as the chief minister in February this year, Kejriwal has been taking a tough stand on several issues, including appointment of the Delhi chief secretary. He proposed the name of a bureaucrat which was promptly rejected by the federal home ministry, as officers senior to the one suggested by Kejriwal were available. He was given a list of available bureaucrats in line for promotion as chief secretary, but Kejriwal rejected them all, leading to Jung appointing Gamlin as the acting chief secretary.
Political opponents of Kejriwal say he picks up issues of confrontation to distract voters from his government’s ‘mediocre’ performance over the past three months. Kejriwal has accused his rivals of ganging up against him to a bid to topple his government.
Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party had won the Delhi polls with a historic mandate, winning 67 out of 70 seats in the assembly.
