New Delhi: The ongoing tussle between Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lieutenant Governor (L-G) V.K. Saxena over the former’s planned Singapore visit in August for a summit intensified Thursday.
While Saxena formally advised the Delhi CM not to attend the event, Kejriwal wrote back not only challenging his decision but also questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foreign visits.
Saxena said in his communication to Kejriwal that he thinks the summit concerned is more a conference of city mayors, than one for a chief minister.
Kejriwal, meanwhile, said he would still go ahead with the visit and asked the L-G to send the file to the central government for “political clearance”.
ThePrint has seen a copy of both letters.
An official statement issued by the Delhi CM’s office on 1 June said he had been invited to attend the World Cities Summit (WCS) in Singapore to present the ‘Delhi Model’, and was looking forward to discussing urban solutions with other leaders. The summit will take place on 2-3 August.
Subsequently, ThePrint has learnt, the CM’s office wrote to the office of the L-G for approval.
According to protocol, the file is supposed to be cleared by the Ministry of External Affairs, but it reaches the Union ministry only after being approved by the L-G, senior Delhi government officials said.
At a press briefing on 24 June, Kejriwal said Saxena was sitting on the file.
Earlier this week, Kejriwal said he wrote to PM Narendra Modi about how he had been waiting for approval for his Singapore visit for more than a month.
He said at a press briefing, “I am not a criminal, I am a chief minister and a free citizen of the country. There was no legal basis to stop me from visiting Singapore so there appears to be a political reason behind this.”
Meanwhile, MPs of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) — of which Kejriwal is the national convenor — have been protesting in Parliament against the delay.
Kejriwal is believed to have approached the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) for approval following the L-G’s rejection letter.
At the weekly ministerial press conference, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in response to a query on the subject that “an entry was made with the request of this visit in the afternoon today on the online portal”. “Apart from that I cannot comment on anything else,” he added.
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Letters exchanged
A letter received by Kejriwal from Saxena on this matter Thursday read: “Having carefully studied the nature of the forum and the other attendees, it must be noted that on a prima facie basis this is a conference of mayors in various cities.”
The letter said the “subjects that are being deliberated in this conference cover different aspects of urban governance, which in the case of Delhi are addressed by diverse (civic) bodies ranging from the NDMC (New Delhi Municipal Council), MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) and DDA (Delhi Development Authority) apart from the Delhi government”.
It further read: “The GNCTD (Government of national capital territory of Delhi) does not have exclusive domain over the issues corresponding with the theme of the conference.”
“A WCS Smart Cities workshop is also being organised as a part of the summit. In Delhi, the Smart Cities project is being anchored by the NDMC. In such a context it is not advisable for a chief minister to be attending such a conference.”
In response, Kejriwal, too, sent a letter to Saxena that read: “It is not just a mayors’ conference.”
“It is a conference of mayors, city leaders, knowledge experts, etc. The Singapore government has chosen to invite the CM of Delhi. It’s a matter of great pride that the Delhi model of governance, especially our work in education, health and power sector, is being discussed and recognised world over,” it said.
Kejriwal said “human life is not compartmentalised into the subjects mentioned in the three lists of the Constitution”.
“If the visit of each constitutional authority in our country were to be decided on the basis of what subjects fall within the jurisdiction of that authority, it would create a funny situation and practical logjam,” he added.
“Then the Prime Minister would not be able to go anywhere because in most of his visits he also discusses subjects which fall in state list and do not fall in his jurisdiction.”
In October 2019, the central government had in a similar fashion stopped Kejriwal from visiting Denmark for a summit of world leaders.
Inputs from Nayanima Basu
This report has been updated with additional information
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)
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