Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has written yet another letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticising lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for declaring the State Government’s orders null and void.
This is probably the fourth letter to the Prime Minister by Kejriwal in the past six months. Kejriwal’s letter to Modi came two days after a Supreme Court bench had said both the sides should sit together and resolve the disputes and give good governance.
In a letter to Modi, Kejriwal said Delhi’s development has been hit by the fissures between the two sides and that there should be no reason why the two “well-meaning” Governments cannot resolve their differences.
Referring to SC’s observation regarding confrontation between the two sides, he said a “little open mindedness” and “primacy” for welfare of people of Delhi would help in finding solutions to the issues and noted that he has personally made efforts to solve them amicably.
“I personally do not believe that there is any such issue which cannot be resolved by two well-meaning Governments in the interest of the people of Delhi. All that is required is a little open mindedness and primacy for the welfare of the people of Delhi. Now when the apex court has also expressed its concern about the State of affairs, I would urge that we should resolve these differences in the interest of people of Delhi. I assure you that I shall be more than willing to walk an extra mile in this direction,” Kejriwal said in his letter.
He said a number of orders issued by the AAP Government in the past six months have been declared “void” by the l-G which is unprecedented. He said the Delhi Government tried to ensure that the day-to-day lives of people are not affected by the “Centre-State conflict. There are so many things which have happened during the past seven months that have never happened in 23 years of the democratic tradition in Delhi,” he wrote.
He said never before has the l-G issued direct orders to the officers of the city Government which are “contradictory to the legal and valid orders issued by the democratically elected Government. Never before has the Home Ministry, which is a part of a separate legal entity i.e. Government of India declared illegal and ab initio void the orders of Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, he said.
Kejriwal alleged that the Anti-Corruption Branch of the Delhi Government has been “usurped” by the l-G through an executive order depriving the Government of its primary tool to combat corruption.
“I, for one, have made all possible efforts to resolve the situation. I have personally met all the concerned ministers of Government of India, and also approached the l-G, several times in this direction. I even met yourself and also the President of India on couple of occasions on this issue,” said Kejriwal.