"Very objectionable...": Delhi LG Saxena slams Arvind Kejriwal for calling Atishi 'temporary CM'
Dec 30, 2024
New Delhi [India], December 30 : Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Monday wrote a letter to Chief Minister Atishi and expressed his disapproval of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal referring her as a "temporary Chief Minister."
"I found this very objectionable and I was hurt by it. It was not only an insult to you, but also to your appointee, the President of India and to me as her representative... As a Lieutenant Governor, I am concerned about this level of public discourse and at the same time, I am hurt by the conversation of presenting the full-time Chief Minister of my government as a temporary Chief Minister," the letter read.
In the letter he criticised Kejriwal's remark as an affront to "constitutional values and the dignity of the office."
"The public definition of temporary or caretaker 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," it added.
He further said that it is well known under what "circumstances" you were made the Chief Minister.
"Whether it is the deteriorating condition of Yamuna in the last ten years or the acute shortage of drinking water, the issue of mountains of garbage or the lack of basic facilities in industrial areas, the plight of roads and sewer lines or the crumbling health system, the lack of facilities in unauthorized colonies or the hellish life in slums, everyone knows how possible it is for a Chief Minister, who has been declared temporary and makeshift, to do anything in three-four months. Your leader has also publicly accepted his failures in these areas, but as the Chief Minister, the responsibility for the failures in all these areas will now be yours," the LG further said.
The Delhi LG said, " Recently two departments of the Delhi government issued public notices in the press, warning people to be cautious about registrations being done for non-existent schemes by the former Chief Minister. This incident is unprecedented and must have been unsettling for you."
"However, I also appreciate the departmental officers who, while discharging their duties, brought to the notice of the public the correct facts regarding the misleading schemes and their registration in the public interest.
He further said that he is "concerned" about this level of public discourse and is also "hurt" by the discussion of presenting the "full-time Chief Minister of my government as a temporary Chief Minister."
"I wish you a successful and bright future. My letter is written to you personally, but in the times to come, it should be considered a document outlining and recording the current context," LG told Atishi.
Atishi became the chief minister in September this year, following Kejriwal's resignation after his release on bail from Tihar Jail in connection with the Delhi liquor policy 'scam.'
Delhi's assembly elections are scheduled for early next year.