No-show cabinet: Delhi L-G writes to MHA
NEW DELHI: The office of the Lieutenant Governor (L-G), in a letter addressed to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), expressed dissapointment over ministers refusing to attend a meeting called by L-G VK Saxena to discuss the functioning of respective ministries following the arrest of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, saying the action of the cabinet showed “insensitivity and lack of seriousness”.
In its letter to the Union home secretary, the Secretariat of the L-G said such a consultation (meeting) was necessary “so that routine works of governance are not hampered” in the backdrop of Kejriwal’s detention but the ministers declined his invite on the “specious ground” that the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) was in force.
“Upon the arrest of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, and subsequent events, especially those related to public health infrastructure in the city, the impeding Summer Action Plan for water availability, playing out in the public domain, L-G had decided to convene a meeting of key ministers of GNCTD dealing with the departments of water, education, health, transport, environment and forest etc,” according to the letter. An intimation was sent to Gopal Rai, Kailash Gahlot, Atishi and Bharadwaj for the meeting on April 2, it said.
“However, all the ministers have vide emails declined to attend the meeting on the specious ground that since the MCC is in force, such a meeting would not be appropriate at this stage,” it said.
The MCC was imposed with the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections by the Election Commission on March 16.
“The L-G believes that a consultation of this nature was warranted so that routine works of governance are not hampered in the backdrop of arrest and detention of the chief minister,” the letter added. It also noted that “the rationale adduced for not attending the meeting appears vague and exhibits lack of seriousness and insensitivity to matters affecting the day-to-day lives of the citizens of Delhi”.
According to Raj Niwas officials, the L-G had asked for a meeting with the ministers twice, on March 29 and April 2. However, the ministers, especially health minister Bharadwaj, refused to meet the L-G citing “lame” excuses, they added.
Reacting to the L-G Secretariat’s letter, the health minister said, “I am surprised that a person sitting on a constitutional post is writing a letter and there is no mention of any provision of the Constitution. I want to ask which provision of the Constitution empowers the L-G to issue directions on transferred subjects like health, water, etc. I write to him about the issue related to health. He says it is a transferred subject.”
Bharadwaj said he had received a WhatsApp message and claimed he was not informed about the agenda of the meeting. “When they wrote the agenda, I told them it was a transferred subject. If you want to run Delhi, contest elections. It won’t work that you will run the government from the backdoor,” he said.