VK Saxena, the Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Delhi, has accused Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his ministers of running away from their constitutional duties and responsibilities in governing Delhi, days after Mr Kejriwal, taking a swipe at the LG, had advised him to "chill a bit".
In a tersely-worded letter dated October 7, Mr Saxena criticised the Kejriwal government, saying its rule, based on "speeches and advertisements", was alienated from basic public interest.
The LG's letter came days after Manish Sisodia, Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister, accused him of interfering with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government's functioning and "unconstitutionally" ordering investigations into its decisions and policies.
In a tweet, two days ago, Mr Kejriwal had said: "LG sahib scolds me daily, my wife does not scold me as much. In the last six months, my wife has not written me as many love letters as LG sahib has written to me. LG sahib, chill a bit. And tell your super boss too, chill a little."
Taking a dig at the latest communication from the LG, Mr Kejriwal tweeted: "Today one more love letter has arrived."
In his letter to Mr Kejriwal, Mr Saxena wrote: "I hope that you will accept this message of mine in the true sense as a 'duty letter' received from the guardian of Delhi, which you are calling 'love letter'..."
In his six-page letter, Mr Saxena detailed 11 decisions taken by the Delhi government so far that have caused tension between Delhi's Lieutenant Governor and the Chief Minister.
Mr Saxena wrote: "Your government is running on the basis of advertisements and speeches. When I, while discharging my constitutional responsibilities, made you aware of these shortcomings and requested you to redress them, you and your colleagues not only misled the people, but also made baseless personal allegations. Take cognizance and reference of Manish Sisodia's baseless, misleading and nonsensical statements."
The LG further said: "I would like to remind you that the issues that were conveyed to you in the letter constituted the feelings of all the common citizens of Delhi and the issues were related to administration. Me or the people of Delhi have not yet received any satisfactory reply from you on those matters."
Mr Saxena added that as the Lieutenant Governor, he had taken prompt and appropriate action against corruption, inaction and transparency in any government department or body. He claimed that he had been completely impartial and conscientious in the discharge of his constitutional responsibilities.
Responding to Mr Sisodia's demand for an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the alleged Rs 6,000 crore scam in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the LG said: "A detailed report has been sought from the authorities concerned."
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