CM: Name consultants hired by Modi govt
AAP leader Sanjay Singh claims L- G Najeeb Jung ‘ spying for the PMO’
Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi once again as he urged Union home minister Rajnath Singh to name consultants hired by the Modi government since coming to power in 2014.
These remarks came in the backdrop of Mr Kejriwal’s terse letter to the Union home ministry after it sought information about officials and consultants with the Delhi government.
The Aam Aadmi Party chief hoped similar facts were also being sought from other states. Mr Kejriwal listed states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra and asked whether the Union home ministry had also sought similar information from them.
“You have sought to know the number of IAS posts now held by other officers. As per my knowledge, there won’t be more than two or three such officers. I am confident that the Central government would have also asked for this information from N. Chandrababu Naidu, Vasundhara Raje, Devendra Fadnavis and Shivraj Singh Chouhan as well,” Mr Kejriwal wrote in the letter.
However, sources said the states mentioned by the Delhi chief minister were full- fledged states where the Union home ministry has no role to play. Not putting a lid on to the matter, the Union home ministry, however, made it clear on the day that it was well within its rights to seek details about the status of officers belonging to all- India services. Official sources said the Union home ministry was the cadre controlling authority for Delhi and therefore had the right to seek this information.
Delhi has a sanctioned strength of 58 IAS officers, but the Union home ministry had provided 93 such officers to Delhi, out of which many were still awaiting their postings. The sources said the Delhi government cannot take people from outside while keeping IAS officers waiting endlessly.
The AAP leader said legal experts had told him the Central government had no authority to seek this information from him. Mr Kejriwal remarked sarcastically that he was happy that Mr Modi was taking so much interest in the affairs of the Delhi government. “The Prime Minister spends much of his time abroad. But when he is in India, much of his time is consumed on matters related to the Delhi government,” he said.
Mr Kejriwal then sought information about the number of consultants hired by the Modi government in the last two years. He asked Mr Rajnath Singh to tell him how many officers not from the IAS, held posts meant for IAS officers in Uttar Pradesh when he ( Mr Rajnath Singh) was its chief minister.
Mr Kejriwal’s letter was in response to a home ministry letter sent in May, seeking details from the Delhi government about officers on deputation.
Earlier in the day, AAP leader Sanjay Singh accused lieutenant- governor Najeeb Jung of “spying for the PMO” and alleged that the BJP wanted to destabilise the Delhi government.
Mr Kejriwal also reiterated the claims made by Mr Singh. “Shocking! LG snooping on CM ( and) Ministers,” Mr Kejriwal tweeted.