Accusing the Modi Government of trying to “run Delhi with three BJP MlAs through the backdoor,” Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday slammed the BJP-led Centre over the notification which specified the role and power of Delhi lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung and said that Delhi Government is seeking legal advice on the same. He also accused the BJP Government of “backstabbing” the people of the city by issuing a notification “siding” with the lt Governor.
Hours after the Home Ministry issued the gazette notification saying it was not mandatory for the l-G to consult the Chief Minister on matters like appointment of bureaucrats, Kejriwal said it showed the nervousness of the BJP and the Centre over the anti-corruption efforts by his Government. He said the AAP Government was taking views of Constitutional experts on the notification and a decision will be taken accordingly.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia also alleged that the development showed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh were “kneeling” before corruption and the “thriving transfer-posting industry” which the AAP Government had stopped in the last three months. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal told the reporters that while earlier, a lot of money was changing hands for transfers, but now that has ended under AAP Government’s three-month rule. “Once we did it, the Congress and the BJP people failed to get contracts in Delhi. Then they went to the PMO… Now, they have brought this notification as the BJP and the Congress want to have their own officers in Delhi and get Government contracts for their own people. And that is why they want control over the transfer-posting industry through the l-G. By bringing in the notification, the Centre has backstabbed the people of Delhi,” he said.
In the gazette notification, the Union Home Ministry had said that the l-G will have jurisdiction over matters connected with services, public order, police and land and he may consult with the Chief Minister whenever he thinks necessary in issues of services using his own “discretion”.
The Chief Minister, who had recently written to Modi on the issue, also alleged that the main crux of the notification lies in its last paragraph which says that the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) of Delhi Government can’t take any action against Central Government employees. He said such actions amount to promoting corruption.
“Our Government has brought corruption down in its last three months. 36 officials have been arrested and 52 have been suspended. There is terror among corrupt officials and our Government is the most honest in the history of Delhi. Now, the Centre wants that if ACB sees any sort of corruption by its Central Government employees, it should overlook it,” he said.
On MHA’s notification, Kejriwal said the Centre may have to issue another notification “as the existing one has no clarity about transfer and posting of bureaucrats”. “They (Centre) will perhaps need to issue another notification to control over transfer and postings which they missed to mention in this notification. However, we are getting MHA’s notification examined from experts and then, we will take next course of action accordingly,” he said. The appointment of senior bureaucrat Shakuntala Gamlin as acting Chief Secretary by l-G last week had triggered a full-blown war between the ruling AAP and the lt Governor, with Kejriwal questioning the l-G’s authority and accusing him of trying to take over the administration.