After claiming that Delhi LG VK Saxena mocked democracy by refusing to meet, CM Arvind Kejriwal has now refused to attend the meeting. The CM has asked the LG to reschedule the meeting due to his ‘commitments in Punjab’.
On Thursday, January 26, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal asked Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena to postpone their meeting scheduled for Friday. Citing his Punjab visit, CM Kejriwal said he can’t attend the meeting with LG Saxena at Raj Niwas at 4 pm.
As per an official statement from the Chief Minister’s office, CM Kejriwal asked LG Saxena to reschedule their meeting as he will be in Punjab on Friday. “Thank you, LG Sahab. I am going to Punjab tomorrow. We are requesting you to give us time for some other day,” an official statement read.
This comes after Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor Vinay Kumar Saxena invited CM Arvind Kejriwal and his cabinet ministers along with any of the 10 MLAs for a weekly meeting at 4 PM on Friday at Raj Niwas. The Chief Minister and the Lieutenant Governor hold a weekly meeting every Friday at 4 pm. But this week, the LG also invited the cabinet ministers of the Delhi government and 10 MLAs for the meeting. The LG Secretariat also asked the CM to send the list of legislators who would accompany him.
The LG invited the ministers and MLAs after the Delhi CM had demanded to meet him along with all his MLAs earlier this month. On January 16, CM Arvind Kejriwal along with his MLAs had marched from Delhi Assembly to Raj Niwas demanding to meet the LG.
LG Saxena had initially agreed to meet the protesting CM, however, he had also said that it will not be possible for him to host 70-80 MLAs at such short notice. After that, the Delhi CM sought time from the LG to for the meeting along with MLAs on January 21. When the LG said the meeting on 21 January was also not possible, the CM sought an appointment at any other convenient date. Accordingly, the LG had invited CM with cabinet ministers and any of the 10 MLAs to meet him on 27 January. But now the Delhi CM wants to reschedule the meeting.
It is notable that Arvind Kejriwal will be joining Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann in inaugurating 400 Mohalla Clinics in Amritsar.
‘Delhi LG mocked democracy by refusing to meet us…’
When the LG refused to meet all the MLAs on January 16, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) accused LG Saxena of “mocking democracy”.
AAP’s Atishi Marlena had said, “Delhi’s elected Chief Minister and MLAs had demanded to meet the ‘unelected’ Centrally nominated LG, but it is a matter of extreme shame that the LG Saxena declined to give time to the elected representatives. By refusing to meet with the Chief Minister and MLAs who the public has repeatedly elected to office, the LG is blatantly mocking democracy.”
CM Kejriwal and LG Saxena have been at loggerheads as the AAP has alleged that Saxena had twice rejected the Delhi government’s proposal to send Delhi school teachers to Finland for training.
The Lieutenant Governor has however, denied scrapping the Delhi government plan, and said, “Any statement, on the contrary, is deliberately misleading and mischievously motivated. The government has been advised to evaluate the proposal in totality and record the cost-benefit analysis in terms of impact on quality of education being provided to students, to assess the effectiveness of various foreign training programmes for teachers in the past.”
This, however, is not the first time that Kejriwal has complained about the Delhi LG allegedly refusing to meet him. Earlier this month, Kejriwal had claimed that LG was not giving him an appointment to meet. LG office had back then dismissed Kejriwal’s allegations saying that the Delhi CM was doing ‘theatrics’.
He hadn’t had time for a meeting in the past three months, but the day after the LG sends a letter to reschedule the meeting, he wants to perform theatrics and drama. LG has prior meetings and plans. “He cannot schedule a meeting as soon as the CM requests and demands it,” an official had stated.
Notably, Lieutenant Governor Saxena had then invited Kejriwal for a meeting to discuss governance issues in Delhi.
According to the Delhi LG, the chief minister met with him on a regular basis until October 2022. He later admitted that he was unable to do so as he was occupied with the assembly and municipal elections.
Apparently, the mockery of democracy as claimed by the Aam Aadmi Party happens only when LG Saxena does not meet the Delhi CM, however, it is a matter of ‘commitment’ when Arvind Kejriwal is unable to meet the LG owing to his electoral and other commitments.
