AAP government’s turf war with Najeeb Jung widens

New Delhi: In a belligerent move that is set to further escalate the confrontation between Delhi’s lieutenant-governor Najeeb Jung and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the AAP government issued instructions to the city administration on Monday that all directives from the L-G’s office — written or oral — should be routed only through the CMO, and powers related to the transfer and posting of bureaucrats have been rested with deputy CM Manish Sisodia. The Kejriwal government’s order tries to bypass the May 9, 1994 order that vested this authority with the L-G in consultation with the CM.

The turf war between the L-G and Mr Kejriwal continued all through Monday with the AAP government barring the entry of secretary (services) Anindo Majumdar, who had issued the order posting Shakuntala D. Gamlin as acting chief secretary, into his office. Soon after this CM’s secretary Rajendra Kumar was made principal secretary (services), replacing Mr Majumdar; but the appointment was immediately rejected by the L-G, saying it did not have his approval.

The situation further escalated with Mr Sisodia shooting off a strongly-worded letter to Mr Jung, asserting that the AAP government would not comply with his order, as the directives were against the “provisions of law and the Constitution”.

The minister noted that Mr Kejriwal would be apprising Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the contentious issue. Mr Kejriwal is also set to meet President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday evening, when he is expected to take up issues like appointments of bureaucrats. Officials said the AAP chief is to take up with Mr Mukherjee “all unilateral decisions” taken by the L-G “ignoring” the views of the elected government. He is also likely to take up the matter of Mr Jung’s directive to route all key files through his office, and discuss the role and jurisdiction of the L-G’s office in relation to the elected government.

Earlier on Monday, Mr Majumdar was barred from entering both his offices on the 2nd and 7th floor of the Delhi Secretariat. Official sources claimed that the instructions to lock the offices purportedly came from the CM’s office.

After the appointment of Mr Kumar as principal secretary (services), the L-G shot off a letter to Mr Kejriwal, declaring the appointment “void”.