The turf-war between the AAP and lt Governor on the appointment of Shakuntala Gamlin as the acting Chief Secretary on Saturday escalated with the Delhi Government charging the BJP for attempting to carry out a “coup” against it through Najeeb Jung.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said, “The BJP through the lieutenant Governor has attempted a coup against the democratically-elected Government of Delhi with the highest-ever mandate in the history of the State.” This was for the first that the l-G was issuing direct instruction to officers, bypassing the Chief Minister and his Council of Ministers, he added.
“The Constitution, GNCT Act of Delhi and Transaction of Business Rules clearly define the power of the l-G. In case of a dispute or difference of opinion between the l-G and the Council of Ministers, the l-G could have called the Minister concerned to discuss the matter,” Sisodia said, adding “Even after that if the Council of Ministers disagreed, he could have referred the matter to the President and his advice could have been conveyed to the Council of Ministers.”
Calling l-G’s move an act “against the Constitution”, Sisodia said, “I was not informed by the l-G and he does not have the power to issue direct instructions to officers. He has clearly acted against the Constitution and laws relevant to Delhi.”
Slamming Jung’s move, the AAP Government had said on Saturday that he could not bypass the elected Government and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and that he acted against “the Constitution, GNCT of Delhi Act, and the Transaction of Business Rules.”
On Friday, lt Governor Najeeb Jung gave the additional charge of Chief Secretary to Gamlin, a 1984-batch IAS officer, hours after she wrote a scathing letter to Jung claiming that she was pressurised by a senior bureaucrat in the CM’s Office (CMO) not to be in race for the post due to her alleged proximity to BSES discoms.