Delhi’s lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung resigned from his post on Thursday evening ending a nearly three-and-half-year-long eventful tenure, mostly marked by bitter confrontation with the AAP Government on a range of issues that virtually brought governance to a standstill on many occasions.
His resignation that came out of the blue not only stumped the political dispensations in the national Capital but also set many tongues wagging as to what could have been the reason behind his surprise decision to quit the gubernatorial post.
An undated letter in which Jung had written to Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi about his planned private visit to Goa surfaced after his resignation adding further fuel to speculation about the reason for his sudden move.
In a letter, Jung said, “I will be undertaking a private visit to Goa from December 25, 2016 to January 1, 2017. I will leave Delhi in the afternoon of Sunday, December 25, 2016, and will be back on evening of Sunday, January 1, 2017.”
The letter further said that in his absence, the Delhi Chief Secretary would keep in touch with him about important developments and seek the Ministry of Home Affair’s advice where necessary.
Sources said that Jung’s surprise move to abdicate his post has definitely got to do with his meeting with the Union Home Secretary on Tuesday. It appears that Jung was nudged by the Home Ministry to resign.
However, the Union Home Secretary said he came to know about the resignation from the media. “The l-G met me day before yesterday (Wednesday) but he did not give any indication of submitting his resignation. Another meeting of mine with the l-G is scheduled for tomorrow (Friday),” he said.
Meanwhile Ajay Chowdhry the Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Jung said that the l-G was mulling his resignation for quite some time as he wanted to pursue his other interests such as academics.
Well placed sources also said the l-G’s decision was not unexpected as he was contemplating to quit his post. They also claimed that Jung’s resignation has got nothing to do with bitter relationship with the AAP Government. “His decision to quit was not at all related to his relationship with the Arvind Kejriwal Government. It was purely a personal decision as he wanted to pursue his other interests,” they said.
While announcing his resignation, the l-G thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “help and cooperation”. Jung, who was at loggerheads with Kejriwal, has also extended gratitude to the latter.
“He thanked the Prime Minister for all the help and cooperation received during his tenure as the l-G of Delhi. He also thanks the people of Delhi for all their support and affection,” said a statement issued by Raj Niwas.
Jung also said he got “unstinted support” from the people of Delhi which helped him run the administration “smoothly and effortlessly”.
The statement from Raj Niwas, added that “he has expressed wish of returning back to his first love, which is, academics.”
Jung took over as the 20th lieutenant Governor of Delhi on July 09, 2013, succeeding Tejendra Khanna, five months before the Delhi Assembly elections. A keen student of literature, Jung had also worked with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies of Oxford University on Energy related issues. Born on January 18, 1951, Jung did post graduation in History from Delhi University and later did MA in Social Policy and Planning from london School of Economics, United Kingdom. He had joined Indian Administrative Services (IAS) in 1973 and served in Madhya Pradesh Government and at several key positions, including as joint secretary in the ministry of petroleum and natural gas, in the central government
The then Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit had played a pivotal role in appointing Jung, who was serving as Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia, to the top post in the city administration.
He had run the city for nearly one year under the President’s rule after the AAP Government had quit on February 14, 2014 after a short stint of 49 days.
Normally Governors are appointed for a five-year term but there is no fixed tenure for the lt-Governors.