NEW DELHI: Lieutenant Governor of Delhi VK Saxena on Monday wrote a letter to Delhi CM Atishi conveying his objections over ex-CM Arvind Kejriwal calling her ‘temporary CM’.
“I found it deeply objectionable and was personally hurt when your predecessor, Shri Arvind Kejriwal, recently declared you in the media as merely a temporary and stopgap Chief Minister,” said the LG in his letter. “It was not only an insult to you, but also to your appointee, the President of India and to me as her representative,” he added.
Saxena further slammed the AAP supremo and said, “The public characterisation of a temporary or stopgap chief minister, as articulated by Shri Kejriwal, has no constitutional basis. It is also a deplorable violation of the democratic spirit and values enshrined in the Constitution authored by Babasaheb Ambedkar.”
The LG lauded Atishi for her approach in governance, contrasting it with her predecessor’s alleged reluctance to take on administrative responsibilities. “For the first time during my tenure, I have seen a Chief Minister actively performing the duties of the office,” he wrote.
The LG further outlined the challenges faced by the Delhi government, including the Yamuna pollution crisis, garbage management, and the poor state of infrastructure in industrial and slum areas. He noted that these issues were legacies of the previous administration and emphasized that it would be unfair to expect Atishi to resolve them within a few months. “It is well known under what circumstances you were made Chief Minister. Whether it be the worsening state of the Yamuna over the past ten years, the severe shortage of drinking water, the issue of garbage mountains, the lack of basic amenities in industrial areas, the disrepair of roads and sewer lines, the crumbling healthcare system, the dire lack of facilities in unauthorized colonies, or the abysmal living conditions in slum areas—everyone understands how impossible it is for a Chief Minister, already declared temporary and stopgap, to address these issues in three to four months,” the LG said adding, “as chief minister, the responsibility for these failures will now rest on your shoulders”.
The letter also took aim at Kejriwal for making unilateral announcements on government schemes during public events claiming, “Unauthorized announcements such as schemes for senior citizens and women have undermined the dignity of the chief minister’s office and the Cabinet.”
Additionally, the LG condemned Kejriwal’s claims of alleged investigations against Atishi, including suggestions that she could face jail time. He referred to official communications from the Transport Department and the Vigilance Department, which have categorically denied any such probes, calling Kejriwal’s allegations “baseless and misleading”.
The letter also saw LG expressing his concern about the level of political discourse in the capital. “I am concerned about the level of public discourse and am deeply hurt by the narrative presenting the full-time chief minister of my government as a temporary Chief Minister,” he wrote, while extending his best wishes to Atishi for her future endeavors.