Accusing senior bureaucrat Shakuntala Gamlin of favouring power distribution companies, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said that she wanted to trick the Government into signing documents, which would give Rs11,000 crores to these firms. He further said that he will keep constant tabs on her work as long as she is the acting Chief Secretary.
Kejriwal added that it raises suspicions that the BJP-led Central Government will do something wrong and that's why they have appointed Gamlin as the acting Chief Secretary. “But I assure you that I will keep tabs on her (Gamlin) and every file will go through me,” he said while addressing the public meeting ‘Auto Samwaad’ in Burari.
“When our Government was formed, Gamlin came to our Power Minister to sign a letter, saying that Reliance-owned power companies have applied for a loan of Rs11,000 crore. She wanted the Minister to sign the document and said it was just a formality. When our Minister got this letter checked, it turned out to be a guarantee letter.
If Reliance-owned power companies failed to pay the loan, the burden would come on the people and the power tariffs in Delhi would have increased two-three-fold,” he said. Gamlin was appointed as the acting Delhi Chief Secretary by the lieutenant- Governor.
Kejriwal also slammed the Narendra Modi Government, saying her appointment was meant to trip his Government. He added that she was appointed the acting Chief Secretary despite objections raised by his Government. "We opposed the appointment of acting Chief Secretary (Gamlin), but the Modi Government appointed her for the post.
We have been struggling for last four days, but the Modi Government wanted to make the Delhi Government fail," he alleged, adding that his Government would keep tabs on Gamlin's work as acting Chief Secretary for the next ten days.
On Saturday, a letter from Power Minister Satyendra Jain to Kejriwal dated May 5, 2015, emerged in which the former accused Gamlin of lobbying within the Government to promote the "interest of Reliance-owned power companies" and urged him to relieve her of the charge of Principal Secretary (Power).
"Since the AAP Government took over, she has been aggressively lobbying within the Government to promote the interests of Reliance-owned power companies. Many such instances have come to light," Jain had said in his letter to the Chief Minister.
The confrontation over the appointment of an acting Chief Secretary turned into a full-blown war between the ruling AAP and lt-Governor Najeeb Jung as Kejriwal asked him to work "within the confines" of the Constitution while alleging that he was trying to take over the administration.
The Chief Minister asked the gathering whether a person accused of favouring power companies should be appointed acting Chief Secretary. "I want to ask you if a secretary, who is hand in glove with power companies, should be made Chief Secretary of Delhi," he said, adding that the AAP was now struggling more in Government compared to when they were leading a struggle before coming to power.
Kejriwal said that since the AAP coming to power, it is only the corrupt officers are afraid while the honest ones are working fearlessly. "Corruption has come down since the AAP came to power; but corrupt officers are afraid and have joined hands to make our Government fail while the honest officers are moving fearlessly," the Chief Minister said.
Hitting out at political rivals, he said that when the BJP and the Congress talk about 'ease of doing business', they hold meetings with Ambani, Adani, Tata and Birla at five star hotels and then sort out their problems, but the AAP Government resolves the problems of common people.