NEW DELHI: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday accused Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena of stalling a Delhi teachers’ training visit to Finland, questioning whether he really has a say in these decisions. “L-G, who?” said Kejriwal, in a speech on the second day of winter session of assembly. He alleged that the L-G bragged about the BJP winning 104 seats in the MCD polls because of him.
“Not even my teachers checked my homework as the LG scrutinises my files. The L-G is not my headmaster. People have elected me as chief minister,” he said.The Delhi CM emphasised that democracy, constitution, and law are paramount for the state government and that the L-G must also respect these three pillars. He said, “When we come to the Centre tomorrow and have our L-G in Delhi, be it AAP, BJP or Congress we will ensure the L-G does not harass the state government.”
Upon the Finland Teacher Training Row, the CM on Tuesday said, “I want to ensure the same standard of education for every child of Delhi as I have for my own children.” Talking about the recent meeting with the L-G, the Delhi CM said, “I was shocked when he said that I am an Administrator, the President sent me, I can do anything.” He also pointed out that the constitution clearly states that the L-G has not been entrusted with any independent decision-making powers and that the Supreme Court orders have repeated this fact twice, however, the L-G terms the court’s order to be a mere opinion.
The CM also criticised the L-G for sending the system back to the British era, “Viceroys used to say ‘you bloody Indians, you don’t know how to govern’; the L-G today is saying, ‘you bloody Delhiwallas, you don’t know how to govern’,” he said.
He questioned the purpose of the country’s freedom struggle if the elected government has no power and stressed that the government will make any sacrifice necessary to preserve freedom and strengthen democracy and the constitution, but will not let the nation be spoiled in this way.