Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday denounced Lt Governor Najeeb Jung as a dictator and accused him of working at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“The chief minister has written to Jung saying that by describing himself (Jung) as ‘the government’, the Lt. Governor was acting at the behest of Modi,” a Delhi government official said. Kejriwal demanded to know if Jung was trying to act like a dictator.
The letter followed Jung’s decision to reject the Delhi government’s appointment of Swati Maliwal as chief of Delhi Commission for Women (DCW).In his communication rejecting Maliwal’s appointment, Jung had described his office as “the government” in Delhi.
The Delhi Chief Minister further claimed that Jung was following the Prime Minister’s directives on the matter.
“On the direction of Prime Minister Modi, the Lieutenant Governor has made the DCW ineffective. Earlier he had same with the ACB of Delhi,” said Kerjiwal.
Pulling up Lieutenant Governor Jung for his statement calling himself the Government of Delhi, Kejriwal said, “the Lieutenant Governor has written in his letter, that he himself is the Government in Delhi, how is this possible? How can a person call himself a govt, this will lead dictatorship in Delhi. India is a democratic country and Delhi has an elected government. The Delhi Government cannot be person specific.”
The Lieutenant Governor, who has been locked in a tussle with Kejriwal over the appointment and transfer of senior bureaucrats, declared Maliwal’s appointment as “ultra vires” of the rules.
The AAP has rejected allegations of nepotism made by the BJP and the Congress over Maliwal’s appointment. Silencing all critics, the AAP Government said that it picked the person who is best suited for the job.
