Arvind Kejriwal Must Reach Out Directly: Lt Governor’s Advice On Row With Officials

NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, in the middle of an unprecedented confrontation with the bureaucracy, on Tuesday received some more advice from Lt Governor Anil Baijal to bridge the trust deficit with the bureaucracy in the city government and introspect “how this deplorable state of affairs has developed”.

Mr Baijal, according to a statement released by his office, has asked the Chief Minister “to reach out directly to the employees as greater responsibility lies on him” since the alleged assault on Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash was reported to have happened at the chief minister’s house and in his presence.

The Lt Governor, responding to Mr Kejriwal complaining to him about the bureaucrats yesterday, said he would make “all efforts” to restore a sense of security among government employees.

Mr Baijal’s letter is a clear message to the Aam Aadmi Party government that the onus to convince the bureaucracy to start attending meetings with the political executive lies with the chief minister. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, after meeting the Lt Governor last week, had announced that Mr Baijal had agreed to speak to officers.

Mr Baijal said he did meet associations of bureaucrats and the impression he received was that “government employees in Delhi feel physically insecure, sadly in the very presence of those, who have been elected to uphold democracy and rule of law”.

Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash attended a meeting of the Delhi Cabinet today, the first since Monday last week when he accused ruling AAP lawmakers of assaulting him at a midnight meeting that chief minister Kejriwal had called.

In a letter to Mr Kejriwal, Anshu Prakash said he would attend the meeting, “but this based on the presumption that the CM will ensure there’s no physical attack or verbal assault.”

In a complaint to the police, Anshu Prakash last week accused AAP lawmakers of a “pre-meditated” assault on him at Mr Kejriwal’s official residence. Two AAP lawmakers – Prakash Jarwal and Amanatullah Khan – were subsequently arrested. AAP vehemently denied the allegations, claiming Mr Prakash had lied.

City officials in the national capital have since then been boycotting meetings convened by the Chief Minister and his team.