Jailed in Tihar in the alleged excise policy-linked money laundering case, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday reportedly wrote to Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena informing him that Cabinet Minister Atishi will hoist the national flag at the city Government’s Independence Day function on August 15.

Behind bars for long, the AAP chief has neither resigned from the Chief Minister’s post nor named anyone as his replacement.

“Kejriwal has written to the L- G from jail saying Atishi will hoist the Tricolour on his behalf on August 15,” an AAP statement said. Every year, the Delhi Government’s Independence Day function is held at Chhatrasal Stadium where Kejriwal has been unfurling the national flag and addressing the gathering since taking the reigns of Delhi.

However, Raj Niwas officials have claimed that no such letter has been received by Saxena. “With regard to the AAP claim regarding the flag hoisting on August 15, it is clarified that the LG Secretariat has not received  any such communication whatsoever,” an official said.

Prominent among the senior AAP leaders who have been at the forefront of party activities since Kejriwal was jailed on March 21, Atishi holds various portfolios, including that of Water Resources.

Rebuffing the AAP’s statement, BJP’s South Delhi MP Ramvir Singh Bidhuri requested Saxena not to allow Atishi to hoist the flag in Kejriwal’s absence.

“In the Independence Day programme organised by the Delhi Government, only the Chief Minister can hoist the flag. If Kejriwal wants Atishi to hoist the flag, he should first resign from the post of Chief Minister and then nominate her in his place,” he stated.

“This is not a personal choice of the CM to nominate someone or any of his Ministers to hoist the national flag in his place,” Bidhuri said.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said the letter proves that the AAP and its leaders were anarchists yesterday and remain anarchists today. “Perhaps the framers of the Constitution and the national flag protocol never imagined that one day, there would be a stubborn Chief Minister who would not resign even after going to jail,” he claimed.

The Delhi BJP chief called the letter ‘anarchic’ and said, “It brings back the horrific memories of his declaration to disrupt the Republic Day celebrations on Rajpath in 2014 by staging a sit-in protest.” He said Kejriwal tarnished the dignity of Republic Day in 2014 and has now tarnished the dignity of Independence Day in 2024.

“During the Independence Day celebrations of the Delhi Government, only the Chief Minister of Delhi can hoist the flag. If he is unable to do so, then traditionally, the LG will hoist the flag. From 1991 to 1993 and in 2014, when there was no Chief Minister in Delhi, the LG hoisted the flag,” said Sachdeva, adding that if he wants his Minister Atishi to hoist the flag, then he should trust her and resign, allowing her to take the oath as the Chief Minister.

It is noteworthy that only Governors hoisted the national flag in States till 1973 which was changed by former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi who launched a campaign for the right to hoist national flag for the Chief Ministers. In February 1974, Karunanidhi wrote to the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi demanding the right to hoist the national flag on the Independence Day.