+

Lt Governor Vs Aam Aadmi Party war escalates

The feud between the elected representatives in the capital and the Lt. Governor, who is also the Chief Administrator appointed by the Centre to oversee the function the government, has shown no signs of ending. In fact, one organ of the government handed over a notice to the other asking the Kejriwal dispensation to pay […]

The feud between the elected representatives in the capital and the Lt. Governor, who is also the Chief Administrator appointed by the Centre to oversee the function the government, has shown no signs of ending. In fact, one organ of the government handed over a notice to the other asking the Kejriwal dispensation to pay a compensation of nearly Rs 164 Crores for putting out political advertisements in the guise of government achievements. The order said that in the event of the money not being paid, the administration would move and seal the offices of the Aam Aadmi Party. On the other hand, deputy Chief minister, Manish Sisodia lashed out at the Lt.Governor, V.K.Saxena and accused him of trying to undermine the authority of the people’s representatives. He maintained that the Lt. Governor did not have powers to get such notices issued and he was crossing all the limits in doing so. It is a well-known fact that ever since Saxena took over as the Lt. Governor from Anil Baijal, he has been pointing out the flaws in the AAP’s policies and has often accused Arvind Kejriwal of infringing the procedures as established by convention and rules. The first salvo was fired against the Excise policy which allowed private operators to operate in the capital. Amidst charges of wrong doing, raids were conducted on some private players who it was alleged were hand in glove with the AAP functionaries and had made good amount of money in the process. Kejriwal reversed the policy and restored status quo but the new policy which is almost ready shall be rolled out shortly. The Lt.Governor, AAP confrontation took place on the eve of the Gujarat Assembly elections and just ahead of the Municipal Corporation polls. The spotlight on Manish Sisodia who was interrogated by the government agencies ensured that the Congress was kept out of media focus in Gujarat as well as in Delhi. It is another matter that the AAP wrested power from the BJP in the national capital and shares with its Saffron adversary a common objective of making the country Congress Mukt. Whether that would happen or not is something which time alone shall tell. Coming back to the latest notice to the AAP functionaries to cough up Rs 164 crores, it is most unlikely that Kejriwal’s party would even bother about it. In fact, it may take to streets to lodge its protest and may also hold an agitation against the Lt.Governor. Even if the presumption of the Lt. Governor that political advertisements were placed in the media in the guise of government achievements is true, which government does not do it. Anyone watching Television regularly cannot miss how state governments as well as the Centre have put out advertisements which transgress all norms. Many of such advertisements are promotional features and are aimed at political objectives. In fact, most media houses are beneficiaries of this liberal advertisement policy. Such things used to happen in the past as well. There are numerous examples when just ahead of elections, foundation stones of various projects were laid by state and central leaders. These projects never took off once the polls were over. The Lt. Governor and the elected government in Delhi should work in close coordination for the overall welfare of the citizens instead of squabbling on a day to day basis. This does not reflect too well on our system.  

Tags: