NEW DELHI: In a sign of a brewing tussle, Delhi Lt Governor (L-G) V K Saxena on Tuesday wrote to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, refuting his Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia’s charge of favouring the BJP and urged him to advice his ministers against making “misleading” assertions.
Saxena was reacting to a letter by Sisodia wherein he accused the LG of “bulldozing the law” to favour the BJP in connection with allowing the Anti Corruption Branch to probe the alleged irregularities in the construction of seven temporary hospitals during the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the government sources, granting permission for enquiry under the Prevention of Corruption Act does not fall under the purview of ‘services’ and is within the jurisdiction of elected government.
“It is both sad and surprising to note that vide the above letter, the deputy chief minister has made factually and legally incorrect statements on the subject matter while unnecessarily politicising a desirable administrative action,” Saxena wrote in the letter to Kejriwal.
He reminded the CM of their agreement over “zero tolerance” against corruption, that was reached during their meetings every Friday, and sough his cooperation in doing so. “In the interest of good governance, I would further urge you to advise your ministers to refrain from such unproductive and poorly evidenced assertions,” he said.