The General Administrative Department (GAD) of Delhi Government has ordered three Parliamentary Secretaries to Chief Minister to vacate their rooms at Players Building without further delay.
The order from GAD came following the promulgation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) due to Assembly elections on December 4. It may be noted that this is the first time that such an order was issued as far as Parliamentary Secretaries are concerned. Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has three Parliamentary Secretaries — Mukesh Sharma, Anil Bhardwaj and Surender Kumar.
The order states, “Parliamentary Secretaries to Chief Minister may be requested to handover the possession of the office allotted to them at Players Building in Delhi Secretariat to GAD immediately.” When asked, Chief Secretary DM Spolia said there is nothing wrong if Parliamentary Secretaries have been directed to vacate their rooms in the wake of the Model Code of Conduct.
Reacting to the order, a Parliamentary Secretary said on condition of anonymity that there are no clear-cut directions. “On the one hand, it has been mentioned as an order whereas on the other, it beseeches the Parliamentary Secretaries,” he said. Bhardwaj and Kumar have vacated their offices and relinquished their official cars to GAD while Sharma is yet to vacate his office and forfeit his car.
It may be recalled that when Ajay Maken was the first Parliamentary Secretary to the Chief Minister of Delhi, the offices remained functional as these were co-terminus with the tenure of the Chief Minister. There was no such order issued. Earlier on October 4, GAD had ordered all offices at Players Building to
remove photographs of the Chief Minister and other advertisements. Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Vijay Dev categorically stated that if the Model Code of Conduct was not implemented, stricter action would be taken. “There is nothing wrong in the order,” Dev said.