Face-off between Arvind Kejriwal and Najeeb Jung reaches President Pranab Mukherjee

The meetings came hours after the CM issued orders asking secretaries and chief secretaries not to act on Jung’s orders without checking with him first. (Source: Express Archive)

The face-off between Lt Governor Najeeb Jung and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over who controls the Delhi bureaucracy reached the Rashtrapati Bhavan Tuesday, with both meeting President Pranab Mukherjee separately.

The meetings came hours after the CM issued orders asking secretaries and chief secretaries not to act on Jung’s orders without checking with him first.

Apart from the President, Jung also met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to apprise him of the situation. The row had started when principal secretary (power) Shakuntala Gamlin, who has been accused of lobbying for power companies by the CM, was appointed acting chief secretary last week.

Bureaucrats who did not wish to be named said the issue had gone too far as the Centre was now involved, and sources said that Rajnath Singh might meet the President to discuss the issue Wednesday.

Speaking at an event in Delhi, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley took a swipe at the AAP government, which had decimated the BJP in the Delhi polls.

“People of Delhi favoured a new experiment and brought AAP government to power. Development works have to be expedited but the present AAP government has instead chosen a path of confrontation. We appeal to the Delhi government to work towards providing a good administration, instead of creating a ruckus…to divert attention from failing promises,” he said.

The AAP government, however, refused to back down. Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, who met the President along with Kejriwal, said, “We have told the President that the LG office is acting as if Delhi is under President’s rule and there is no elected government in the city. We have got such a huge majority. We accepted the LG’s decision of appointing Gamlin but now he is directly interfering in appointments of secretary rank officials. This will not be accepted.”

Sources said both camps were told to discharge their duties as per the rules and procedures. The President is also likely to consult legal experts, sources said.

Meanwhile, Rajendra Kumar, who was appointed by the CM as principal secretary (services) replacing Anindo Majumdar, continued to sign official orders, despite the LG declaring his appointment “void”.

Majumdar, who had signed the order notifying Gamlin’s appointment as acting chief secretary, had found his office locked on Monday on Kejriwal’s orders.

The Delhi government also appointed Arvind Ray as principal secretary of the general administrative department, an additional charge held by Majumdar. Ray had been removed from the post of secretary (home) a few days ago following a minor altercation with the government, sources said.

Both Gamlin and Ray met the LG in the evening.

Source:: Indian Express