File photo of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday latched onto Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's remarks over Supreme Court verdict on NJAC to fire his latest salvo at the Centre, saying the AAP has been demanding a Delhi shorn of "tyranny of the unelected".
"Jaitley ji on NJAC- 'Indian democracy cannot be a tyranny of the unelected'. Jaitley ji, this is exactly what we have been demanding in Delhi," Mr Kejriwal tweeted.
Earlier on Sunday, in unusually strong remarks over the Supreme Court's reasoning for striking down the NJAC Act, Mr Jaitley said that Indian democracy cannot be a "tyranny of the unelected".
"The Indian democracy cannot be a tyranny of the unelected and if the elected are undermined, democracy itself would be in danger," he said in a Facebook post titled'The NJAC Judgement An Alternative View?', which he termed as "personal views".
The AAP government and Lt Governor, who represents the Centre, have been locked in a bitter fight over several issues including control over the bureaucracy.
The Chief Minister has written a number of letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the last few months seeking his intervention in allowing the Delhi government to function independently.
In a statement, AAP said that it is unfortunate that Mr Jaitley has chosen an "unwarranted expression" like 'tyranny of unelected' while referring to the Supreme Court judgment.
"What is missing in the central government's response so far is that how does it intend to address the concerns raised by the Supreme Court on safeguarding the independence of judiciary," the party said.
The party also lodged its protest with the parallel drawn by the Finance Minister in comparing the appointment of judges to Election Commission and the CAG.
"This is a serious contradiction in his stand from his days in opposition when Mr Jaitley used to raise questions on the appointment of Election Commissioners by the government of the day," the AAP said.