L-G to Kejriwal: Restrain mantris from giving misleading statements
Delhi Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena on Tuesday complained to chief minister Arvind Kejriwal about his deputy Manish Sisodia for accusing him of “favouring the BJP” and urged him to restrain his ministers from making such “misleading” assertions.
Mr Saxena was reacting to a letter by the deputy chief minister wherein he accused the L-G of “bulldozing the law” to favour the BJP in connection with allowing the Anti Corruption Branch to probe the alleged irregularities in the construction of seven temporary hospitals during the
Covid pandemic.
In his letter, Mr Sisodia had Mr Saxena under whose “pressure” he had approved investigation by the ACB over a year old complaint when it was rejected by his predecessor Anil Baijal as “frivolous and baseless.” He had urged the LG to withdraw the sanction given to the ACB to probe the alleged irregularities.
The LG had granted sanction on a complaint by BJP MP Manoj Tiwari alleging irregularities in the construction of temporary hospitals by the Public Works Department.
Mr Sisodia’s letter had assumed significance in the backdrop of the tussle between the AAP government and the newly appointed LG over the latter’s frequent meetings with senior officials as well as inspections of government facilities, which the former has termed as interference in the functioning of the elected dispensation.
Reacting to Mr Sisodia’s charge, Mr Saxena said: “It is both sad and surprising to note that vide the above letter, the deputy chief minister has made factually and legally incorrect statements on the subject matter while unnecessarily politicising a desirable administrative action.”