A day after blaming the Union government for failing to attend the ‘World Cities Summit’ in Singapore, the Delhi Chief Minister has now made a U-turn. While speaking to the media on Friday (July 29), Arvind Kejriwal remarked that he did not want to blame anyone for not being able to visit Singapore.
“It would have been good if I could go and put forward my point and share with the world the work being done in India…I am not blaming anyone for it,” he had said.
I will attend the meeting with Delhi LG at 4pm today, says CM Arvind Kejriwal.
— ANI (@ANI) July 29, 2022
The ‘change of heart’ was not impromptu but a well-thought-out strategy to deviate criticism from the public. It has come to light that Arvind Kejriwal had deliberately misled the public by falsely blaming the Centre for ‘scuttling’ his Singapore visit.
The controversy began on June 1 this year when Singapore High Commissioner in Delhi, Simon Wong, met Kejriwal in the National Capital. It was reported that the former had invited the Delhi Chief Minister for the ‘World Cities Summit’, which is to be held between August 1-3 this year.
Delhi: Singapore High Commissioner Simon Wong’s first meet with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal; extends invite to CM to attend the Singapore World Cities Summit in August 2022. https://t.co/Vfuki6BVRb
— Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) June 1, 2022
Claims made by the Delhi government
On Thursday (July 28), the AAP-led-Delhi government accused the Centre of sabotaging the visit of Arvind Kejriwal to Singapore. “Only the central government can be held responsible for CM Arvind Kejriwal not being able to attend the World Cities Summit in Singapore, and the subsequent humiliation the country has to face,” it stated.
The Delhi government claimed that Arvind Kejriwal forwarded the file, pertaining to the clearance for CM’s visit, to Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena on June 7 this year. It alleged that the Lieutenant Governor deliberately sat on the file for more than 1.5 months and returned it only on July 21 i.e. a day after the expiry of the official invitation.
“It is clear from this that the intention of the central government was to prevent the Chief Minister from telling about the world-class work done in Delhi in the international arena apart from education and health,” the Delhi government further alleged.
Delhi LG tells Arvind Kejriwal he can’t go to attend Mayor’s conference and belittle the people of Delhi since he is still the Chief Minister… pic.twitter.com/OsxR9w5z7H
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) July 21, 2022
Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena had earlier told Arvind Kejriwal that the conference in Singapore was meant for mayors, and hence it was not advisable for a chief minister to attend the same. In a written response to the request, he said, “…Having studied the nature of the forum and the other attendees, it must be noted that on a prima facie basis this is a conference of Mayors of various cities.”
On the same day, Arvind Kejriwal placed an online request on the website of Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) for political clearance. It must be pointed out that the AAP supremo could have approached the MEA during the 1.5 month-long-period.
A viral email
Meanwhile, an email transcript dated July 26, 2022, had gone viral on social media. It read, “Thank you for considering our invitation for the Honourable Chief Minister to attend the World Cities Summit (WCS) 2022 and to speak at the WCS Plenary, “Liveable & Sustainable Cities: Combating the Climate Crisis”.
“With reference to our email dated 15 July noting the acceptance deadline of 20 July 2022, we regret to inform you that we could no longer accept further additions to the plenary. The invitation to the WCS, which is non-transferable, would also be allowed to lapse,” it emphasised.
The email concluded, “Thank you again for considering the invitation. We hope to see you in Singapore on another occasion.”
Response by the sources in the government
Citing the viral email transcript, government sources told India Today that Arvind Kejriwal missed the deadline that was required for accepting the invitation to the ‘World Cities Summit.’ The sources argued that such dillydallying by the Delhi CM led to the automatic cancellation of the invite by Singapore.
While dubbing it a stunt, they pointed out that a request for political clearance was made to the MEA after the expiry of the deadline on July 21. “The World Cities Summit invitation to Arvind Kejriwal was withdrawn by Singapore. An email reveals that the invitation was cancelled,” they said.
The sources further added, “Therefore, Kejriwal’s entire appeal to PM and L-G for permission to travel to Singapore was nothing more than a political stunt in his usual style of all drama and no substance.”
Although Arvind Kejriwal and the AAP-led-Delhi government tried to portray that they have been victimised by the Centre’s high-handedness, it becomes clear that the Delhi Chief Minister had ample time to seek political clearance from the MEA. And he voluntarily chose not to do so.
Note: Opindia could not independently verify the authenticity of the viral email transcript.
