The CBI raid against Principal Secretary (services) Rajendra Kumar, one of the most powerful bureaucrats in the Delhi Government, has put the AAP Government in a Catch-22 situation with senior officers considered close to the administration in double minds as to whether they should openly defy the Centre’s directions on several contentious issues concerning the national Capital or not.
Top sources told The Pioneer that some bureaucrats, who had been working closely with the AAP Government, fear that they too could face the wrath if they do not fall in the line with the Centre on the issues on which the Kejriwal Government has been at loggerheads.
“The CBI action has jolted the bureaucracy. We do not know whether to follow directions of our Ministers or our cadre controlling authority,” a senior IAS officer said on the condition of anonymity.
Echoing the same sentiment, another officer said the tiff between the Centre and the State machinery has badly affected the development projects.
“No officer wants to take any independent decision. Files are being tossed from one department to the other,” he added.