Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday wrote a letter to Lieutenant-Governor VK Saxena over the ruckus in the first meeting of the House of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), accusing him of playing with the democratic system of the national Capital. In his letter, Kejriwal said that the L-G is directly issuing orders on practically every subject irrespective of whether it is reserved or transferred. The elected Government is supposed to nominate MCD aldermen, while it is shocking and saddening how Saxena dictated his pickings without consulting the Government. “The tradition of appointing senior-most Councillor as the presiding officer was thrown to the winds; the elected Government's power of appointing the presiding officer was infringed by L-G,” he stated. “Such a practice of directly issuing directions to officers and getting notifications done is illegal and unconstitutional," the letter read.
Kejriwal alleged that the L-G and Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar were together running a parallel Government and issuing orders and publishing notifications by bypassing the elected Government. "The L-G, one morning, dictated ten names (obviously all with BJP background) and directed the Chief Secretary to issue a notification. The Chief Secretary complied. The elected Government came to know from the newspapers. Since this is a transferred subject, as per the Constitution, it is the elected Government which has the power to nominate these members," Kejriwal added.
Delhi CM said that these are not isolated incidents. There have been several such instances in the past. With the passage of time, this is now becoming a regular practice. Such practice of directly issuing directions to officers and getting notifications done is illegal and unconstitutional. “The Government elected by the people with such a thumping majority has been rendered irrelevant. Ordinarily, officers would have refused to follow such bizarre directions. They have been protesting privately and in a muted voice,” Kejriwal said.
“Your Excellency, individuals like me and you are too small. This country is important. India is important. Our democracy, which we got after a long independence struggle, is important. Let's all work together for the country and to strengthen our democracy. Please allow elected Government to work for people. Let's respect Constitution," Kejriwal concluded. Taking the matter to Twitter, Kejriwal tweeted, "Please allow elected Government to fulfil dreams of 2 crore Delhiites; let's respect Constitution & strengthen democracy."