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Delhi LG VK Saxena praised CM Atishi for her work as Chief Minister and taking charge of the department unlike her predecessor
Delhi Lt Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena and Chief Minister Atishi (File)
Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Monday expressed his objection to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal’s comment, calling his successor Atishi as “a temporary-makeshift Chief Minister.”
In his letter to CM Atishi, LG Saxena said, “I found it very objectionable and hurt when a few days ago, your predecessor Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal publicly declared you as a temporary-makeshift Chief Minister in the media.”
He further said that by such words, he has insulted President of India who appointed her and himself, who administered the oath to her.
“This was not only an insult to you, but also an insult to your employer Her Excellency the President of India and to me as her representative. The public interpretation of temporary or makeshift Chief Minister given by Kejriwal has no constitutional provision and it is also a reprehensible disregard of the democratic spirit and values enshrined in the Constitution drafted by Baba Saheb Ambedkar,” he said in his letter,” he added.
The Lieutenant Governor – who said he was writing in a personal capacity — however, had opened his letter to the Chief Minister with much praise, for her work as Chief Minister and taking charge of the department unlike her predecessor, who doesn’t held a single department of the government and neither did he sign files.
“On the occasion of swearing in you as the Chief Minister, I had also congratulated you wholeheartedly and wished you and in the period from then till now, for the first time in my two and a half years of tenure, I saw a person holding the post of Chief Minister doing the work of the Chief Minister. Where your predecessor Chief Minister did not have a single department of the government and neither did he sign files, you took charge of many departments and tried to work on various issues of administration,” he said.
Saxena further highlighted several issues concerning previous governance, pointing out warnings issued by Delhi government departments regarding schemes promoted by Kejriwal that were reportedly non-existent.
He also raised the issue of Kejriwal claiming that Atishi would be arrested in a fake case pertaining to the transport department, a charge denied by the department. Saxena voiced his disappointment over the negative portrayal of Atishi, emphasising that such negative narratives could have adverse effects on her role as a full-time Chief Minister.
LG Saxena had earlier offered words of praise for Atishi, calling her “a thousands times better” than her predecessor, with whom Saxena has had several tempestuous run-ins – on legal, administrative, and governance issues – over the past months.
Atishi took oath as the Chief Minister of the NCT in September this year after Kejriwal resigned following his imprisonment in the Delhi liquor policy case. Kejriwal resigned after he walked out of Tihar Jail after five months.
Meanwhile, assembly elections are due in Delhi in February next year.
