The rift between Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal was out in the open again today at the Delhi assembly. The Chief Minister, who had earlier clashed with Mr Baijal on a number of issues and had even accused his office of leaking reports to the media, today attacked the Lieutenant Governor, the BJP and the bureaucracy, alleging a nexus between them.
“I am an elected chief minister, not a terrorist,” Mr Kejriwal declared at the day-long special session called to discuss a number of issues, including a bill to regularise the jobs of nearly 15,000 guest teachers in Delhi, who are on currently working on contract. The BJP has accused AAP of reducing the issue to a populist measure.
The Lieutenant Governor had also asked Mr Kejriwal to reconsider the matter, pointing out that the bill concerned services and was not within the ambit of legislation by the Delhi Assembly. The Aam Aadmi Party has argued that it concerns education and not services.
Today, Mr Kejriwal accused the Lt Governor of “opposing” the Bill. He also alleged that the bureaucracy, on the directions of Mr Baijal, had never shown the files on the matter to Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who also holds the education portfolio.
“What state secrets do these files contain that they cannot be shown to us? I want to tell the LG that I am an elected CM of Delhi and not a terrorist. He (Sisodia) is an elected education minister, not a terrorist,” Mr Kejriwal said.
The last big clash between the Chief Minister and the Lieutenant Governor was in August, over the construction of Mohalla clinics, a healthcare project close to Mr Kejriwal’s heart. As the confrontation escalated, AAP lawmakers had camped outside the Lt Governor’s official residence, demanding that he signs off the files.
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