With the full-blown war between the two top functionaries of the capital showing no signs of abating, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung separately met President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday while accusing each other of breaking the fine balance of jurisdictions in the Constitutional scheme for governance.
A senior government official told The Hindu that the most significant requests made by the Chief Minister to President Pranab Mukherjee was to initiate an exercise aimed at streamlining the existing procedure of transfers and postings of bureaucrats so that a similar impasse did not arise in future.
“The Chief Minister requested the President that there be clear demarcation in relation to the transfers and postings of bureaucrats as an elected government was well within its constitutional rights to seek whatever the nature of service that it required,” a source told The Hindu .
Mr. Jung reportedly apprised Mr. Mukherjee of the stand-off, while maintaining that he had the power to appoint and transfer officers.
AAP govt. appoints Principal Secretary
Adding to the ongoing tussle with Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung, the Aam Aadmi Party government appointed Arvind Ray Principal Secretary, General Administration Department, without the approval of Mr. Jung on Tuesday.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who accompanied Mr. Kejriwal in his meeting with the President, told presspersons outside the Rashtrapati Bhavan that that they told the President that the Lieutenant-Governor was still appointing officers bypassing the ruling dispensation. “L-G is functioning as if there is President’s Rule [in Delhi] and there is no elected government here,” Mr. Sisodia said.
