Amid escalating tensions between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) dispensation and the Lieutenant Governor's office, the weekly meeting of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and LG Vinai Kumar Saxena will not be held on this Friday (September 2), the third time in a row.
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A statement cited Mr. Kejriwal's two-day visit to Gujarat as the reason behind his unavailability for the meeting. "The weekly meeting of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena will not be held tomorrow. The meeting of the CM & LG has been put off for this Friday owing to the CM's two-day visit to Gujarat starting tomorrow (Friday)," the statement said.
It said Mr. Kejriwal will be addressing a public meeting in Gujarat's Dwarka on September 2 and taking part in a town hall meeting in Surendranagar the next day.
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Mr. Saxena and Mr. Kejriwal regularly meet every Friday to discuss matters pertaining to Delhi’s development. However, the last week’s (on August 26) meeting was called off owing to the special session of Delhi Assembly. The August 19 meeting was also not held.
On July 22 too, Mr. Kejriwal had skipped the meeting after a CBI probe was recommended by Mr. Saxena into alleged violations of rules and procedural lapses in implementation of the Excise Policy 2021-22.
The CBI raided 31 places including the residence of deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia last month and also named him as accused in irregularities in Delhi excise policy 2021-22.
The LG had also asked a report from the Chief Secretary on "inordinate delay of 2.5 years" in acting on CVC report on irregularities in construction of classrooms in Delhi government schools.
On the other hand, the AAP has been accusing Mr. Saxena of a "scam of ₹1,400 crore", which the party MLAs claimed, was committed allegedly during his tenure as Khadi and Village Industries Commission chairman in 2016. The AAP legislators have also demanded a CBI probe in the matter.