Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Friday accused Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of making misleading and derogatory remarks against him and resorting to a low level of discourse, PTI reported.
The accusation comes four days after Kejriwal led a march to Saxena’s home to protest against his alleged interference in the working of the Aam Aadmi Party government in the national capital.
The Delhi government’s recent tussle with the lieutenant governor pertains to a proposal to send teachers to state-run schools to Finland for a training programme. Saxena maintains that he has not rejected the government’s proposal.
On Friday, Saxena in a letter to Kejriwal alleged that the chief minister adopted a “political posture” during his march to the Raj Niwas on January 16.
“I must mention here that I was rather astounded at the fact that even as the city is grappling with several serious developmental issues, you found time to walk for long and stage a protest meant solely for posturing, rather than taking the issue to a logical conclusion by meeting me,” Saxena said, according to PTI.
The lieutenant governor added that he invited Kejriwal to a meeting, but he chose not to come on the pretext of wanting to meet him with all his MLAs.
“Given the short notice and sudden demand on Kejriwal’s part, it would not have been possible to have a meeting with 70 to 80 people at once,” Saxena said. “Nor would have it served any concrete purpose.”
Saxena also responded to Kejriwal’s “who is LG” remark saying, that he should refer to the Constitution for the answer.
Kejriwal’s response
In response to Saxena, Kejriwal said that the entire population of Delhi felt insulted because he had refused to meet their elected representatives.
“If the Delhi chief minister, deputy chief minister, the entire cabinet and all the MLAs were standing at your doorstep, it is obvious that it was regarding a significantly important problem related to the state,” Kejriwal said. “If you wanted, you could have met us for 5 minutes.”
Kejriwal also urged the Saxena to look after the law and order situation in the capital, alleging that it was the worst in the country. He also cited the alleged attack on Delhi Commission of Women chairperson Swati Maliwal on Thursday.
“When Delhi is called the rape capital, the heads of all its residents hang in shame,” Kejriwal said in the letter. “Crimes against women are consistently increasing. It has become difficult for women to step out of their homes.”
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