The Delhi Lieutenant-Governor’s office on Wednesday said it will take legal action as it called Urban Development Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj’s remarks over its move to hire a social media management company “defamatory” and “patently false”.
Raj Niwas said the amount being spent by it is nothing when compared with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government’s expenditure of about ₹1,900 crore on advertisements during 2019-23.
Hitting back, AAP said it will move the Supreme Court challenging the immunity from prosecution granted to the L-G “if he continues to misuse his constitutional office for planting false and defamatory stories about elected Ministers of the Delhi government”.
Raj Niwas has floated a tender to hire a firm to manage social media handles of L-G V.K. Saxena and his office at ₹1.5 crore annually. The Minister had termed the decision a “conspiracy to influence next year’s Delhi Assembly poll” by polishing the L-G’s image through “exaggerated statements”.
In a statement, the L-G office claimed that the AAP government has spent on an average ₹36 crore per month and ₹1.2 crore a day on advertising for “personal glorification” of its leader and the party, even as Delhi has become a “living hell” in terms of pollution, health and civic infrastructure.
AAP said none of Mr. Saxena’s predecessors took such a step for image building. “The problem with L-G and his Secretariat is that they have started comparing themselves with an elected government,” it said in a statement. The party said the it seems the L-G office has forgotten that an elected government’s budget at the Centre or in States is approved by Parliament or Legislative Assemblies.
Published - September 05, 2024 01:38 am IST
