IANS/New Delhi
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing him of “trying to run” the state indirectly.
Kejriwal’s reaction came after the central government stated that the lieutenant governor would have the last word in posting and transferring bureaucrats in Delhi. The chief minister accused Modi of back-stabbing the people of Delhi and seeking to protect the corrupt.
In a hurriedly-convened press conference following the home ministry’s decree on the lieutenant governor’s powers, Kejriwal likened Modi to “London” and Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung to “viceroy.”
The home ministry notification came after days of intense wrangling between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government and Jung over transfer and posting of senior officials. The notification, issued on Thursday and made public yesterday, states that the Delhi government “will have no executive power” with regard to “services” -- a reference to Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) officers and some others.
It also takes away the power of the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB), which is under the Delhi government, to prosecute “officers, employees and functionaries” of the central government. Recently, the ACB had filed a case against a Delhi policeman for taking a bribe. This had led to a retaliation by the police which filed charges against unnamed officials for “kidnapping” the policeman.
The notification said that the “lieutenant governor of National Capital Territory of Delhi shall in respect of matters connected with ‘public order’, ‘police’, ‘land’ and ‘services’... exercise the power and discharge functions of the central government.”
Kejriwal came down hard on the order and said it showed the nervousness of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the centre over the efforts of his government against corruption.
He alleged that Jung was just the face and the orders to him were coming from the Prime Minister’s Office. “Pre-independence, Queen of England used to send notifications to the viceroy here. Now, Jung is the viceroy and the PMO is London,” he said.
Kejriwal said his government was consulting constitutional experts on the notification and a decision would be taken soon.
Accompanied by his deputy, Manish Sisodia, the chief minister alleged that money was changing hands for transfers earlier but had ended under the AAP government.
He also alleged that people from the Congress and the BJP had failed to get contracts in Delhi and had approached the PMO.
“The BJP and the Congress want to have their own officers in Delhi and get government contracts for their own people. They want control over the transfer-posting industry,” Kejriwal said, adding that the central government had back-stabbed the city residents.
He said Modi government was trying to run Delhi with three BJP MLAs.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal
