Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, blocked a second time from attending a summit abroad, has declared that he would "go ahead" with the visit. In his response to Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena, he also mentioned that if one goes by his logic, then "the Prime Minister will also not be able to go anywhere".
Mr Kejriwal was invited for the "World Cities Summit" back in June by Singapore High Commissioner Simon Wong. He is expected to address the meet on August 1.
But with the clearance getting delayed, he wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week, saying it was "against the interest of the country to stop a Chief Minister from visiting such an important stage," he had added.
"This is the program of the mayor, the Chief Minister should not go into it," was the Lieutenant Governor's response to the Delhi government's request for clearance that has now come.
"I humbly beg to differ with the advice of the Hon'ble Lieutenant Governor," Mr Kejriwal wrote in response.
"Human life is not compartmentalised into the subjects mentioned in the three lists of the Constitution. If the visit of each constitutional authority in our country were to be decided on the basis of what subjects fall within the jurisdiction of that authority, it would create a funny situation and practical logjam. Then the Prime Minister would not be able to go anywhere because in most of his visits, he also discusses subjects which fall in state list and do not fall in his jurisdiction," the letter added.
In his letter, he also advised the Lieutenant Governor to "Kindly apply for political clearance from the Central government".
"After Delhi LG blocks Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's Singapore visit, the CM has now written to the Ministry Of External Affairs for 'political clearance'. We hope that the Centre will give this clearance as this visit will make India Proud at World Cities Summit," Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has said.
"The LG has advised Kejriwal to not attend the conference since it is a conference of mayors. The chief ministers of other states have attended this conference in the past. Even the prime minister goes for state-related issues. This is mean politics at work," Mr Sisodia told reporters.
In 2019, the Centre had withheld permission to Mr Kejriwal for a similar visit, saying it is unbecoming for a Chief Minister to participate in a meet meant for Mayors. Mr Kejriwal finally had to address the meet online.
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