Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia at a press conference (Press Trust of India photo)
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been told clearly by the central government that it is not essential for him to be consulted on matters like the appointment of key bureaucrats. Instead, the Centre said, Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung can use "his discretion" on whether to get the Chief Minister's input.
Mr Kejriwal retaliated by accusing the Centre of "betraying the people of Delhi" and attempting to protect corrupt officers; reiterating his allegation of the BJP using the Lieutenant Governor to govern Delhi by proxy, he said, "The Prime Minister's Office acts like the Queen of England used to, with the Lieutenant Governor as Viceroy." The BJP, he said, is trying to "run Delhi with three MLAs"; his Aam Aadmi Party has the remaining 67 seats in the state legislature.
Mr Kejriwal's charges followed a
notification issued today by the Home Ministry which backed the Lieutenant Governor on virtually every point of his dispute with the Chief Minister. The statement emphasised that matters like the Delhi Police and the postings of bureaucrats are the turf of the Lieutenant Governor, who acts as the representative of the Centre in the capital.
The notification also states that the Delhi government's anti-corruption branch cannot register or investigate complaints against employees and officers of the union government. "This is to protect corrupt officers," Mr Kejriwal said at a press conference.
Mr Kejriwal and the Lieutenant Governor, whose working relationship has never been smooth, plummeted into their latest battle over an IAS officer described by the Chief Minister as a "lobbyist for power companies". She was picked by Mr Jung as Acting Chief Secretary or the senior-most bureaucrat in the Delhi government.
Mr Kejriwal has claimed that an elected government cannot be saddled with bureaucrats against its choice, a stand that has been backed by other heads of state governments.