Men of Letters: In Turf War, Arvind Kejriwal and Lieutenant Governor Dispatch More Charges

New Delhi:  A flurry of letters on Wednesday marked the escalating turf war between Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung. In the middle of an unpleasant back-and-forth, the Centre has indicated that it will not intervene.

Here are 10 developments in the story:

1. The Lieutenant Governor wrote to the Delhi Government on Wednesday evening stressing that it was his job to approve the transfer and posting of senior officers in consultation with the Chief Minister. He also said Mr Kejriwal’s circular asking officials not to follow oral or written orders from the Lieutenant Governor was unconstitutional.

2.Mr Kejriwal shot off a reply that asked Mr Jung to explain “under which clause of the Constitution are you sending these directives.”

3.Mr Jung’s letter was a response to Arvind Kejriwal’s circular on Monday evening instructing bureaucrats not to follow any order from the Lieutenant Governor without running it by the Chief Minister’s office.

4.Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the crisis, told reporters: “The L-G and Chief Minister must jointly find out a solution to the problem.”

5.AAP accuses the Lieutenant Governor of overstepping his jurisdiction and bypassing a popular, elected government as if Delhi is still under central rule like it was last year, after AAP abruptly quit power.

6.Arvind Kejriwal has written to PM Modi and asserted that his government should be allowed to function independently. He has alleged that the Centre is trying to rule Delhi through the Lieutenant Governor.

7.The turf war that began soon after Mr Kejriwal took charge in February peaked last week when Mr Jung decided to promote IAS officer Shakuntala Gamlin as acting Chief Secretary of Delhi, without consulting the Chief Minister.

8.Mr Kejriwal retaliated by removing the officer who signed off on the Lieutenant Governor’s order – Principal Secretary Anindo Majumdar – who was locked out of his office on Monday. Two more officers were given Mr Majumdar’s duties, despite Mr Jung telling the government in a letter that the appointments were void.

9.Both Arvind Kejriwal and the Lieutenant Governor met President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday and accused each other of violating the Constitution.

10.The government on Wednesday reached out to officers amid reports that many of them have sought transfers to avoid getting caught in the crossfire. Mr Kejriwal and his Deputy Manish Sisodia met senior officials including Shakuntala Gamlin.