The row between Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung and chief minister Arvind Kejriwal turned terse on Sunday with minister of state (home) Kiren Rijiju accused the Aam Aadmi Party government of indulging in character assassination of a lady Indian Administrative Service officer from the Northeast and disobeying the Constitution.
Rijiju said the officer's appointment was made by the Lt governor as per the rules and the Delhi government was making allegations against her without any proof.
"This is nothing but character assassination of a lady IAS officer from the Northeast. They are saying she is incapable. What are the charges against her? If she is involved in any corruption, bring charges against her. By making public statements against her, they are just indulging in character assassination, it is an insult to the people of Northeast," Rijiju said on Sunday.
The minister said the officer's appointment was made by the Lt governor as per the rules and the Delhi government was making allegations again.
The tussle of administrative control between Kejriwal and the Lieutenant Governor, however, seems existed before IAS officer Shakuntala Gamlin entered the picture.
Before Gamlin took charge as acting- chief secretary, the chief secretary KK Sharma also had a tiff with Kejriwal over the issue of referring certain files to the LG's office.
In fact, according to well-placed sources, KK Sharma decided to take 10-day leave and went for a holiday to show his displeasure to Kejriwal for getting a show cause notice.
Kejriwal had issued show cause notices to both Sharma and the Principal Secretary (home) for sending files regarding transfers of police officers to the LG.
Sharma wrote to Jung about the matter on May 10, and then on May 12 prompting Jung to write an angry letter to Kejriwal, where the LG stated that he was "appalled at the language of your communication" referring to the manner in which Kejriwal had made his displeasure known to Sharma.
Jung questioned the show cause notice saying that Kejriwal was neither the appointing authority nor the cadre controlling authority that happens to the union home ministry.
Jung charged Kejriwal with wanting to "restrict the flow of files to the LG Secretariat, not having ever discussed this with me."
Empathising his place in the chain of command, Jung wrote that "files that have been coming to the Lt. Governor as per the law and practice will continue to be submitted to the office of the Lt. Governor through the concerned Minister/Chief Minister."
The same day, Kejriwal shot back. Calling Jung mouthpiece of the BJP government, he charged him for trying to undo all the good work that AAP government has done.
Apparently, Jung has explained the issue to the union home minister Rajnath Singh, as power equation in Delhi government are different from other states. As Delhi is yet to be granted full statehood, Centre still has a lot of say in the matters of Delhi government and wields control over DDA and Police through the office of LG.
The ensuing tussle between Jung and Kejriwal is not new to India. In other states too, governors and chief ministers have not always shared an easy relationship, especially when they belong to different political parties or when a Governor gets more vocal.
Similar war of words was witnessed recently between Uttar Pradesh governor Ram Naik and chief minister Akhilesh Yadav over the issues of Lokayukta and for blocking Akhilesh Yadav from being awarded an honorary doctorate degree from state run Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}