‘I called for good governance, but Kejriwalji in desperation took to…’: Delhi LG Vinai Saxena

The ruling AAP of Delhi led by CM Arvind Kejriwal has accused L-G Vinai Kumar Saxena of pressurising two of his subordinates to get demonitised currency notes worth ₹1,400 crore exchanged during his term as the Khadi and Village Industries Commission chairman (KVIC) in 2016.

Delhi lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena on Thursday said chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was resorting to “diversionary tactics" and “false accusations” against him in an act of desperation.

Delhi lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena. (ANI Photo) (Gagan Pawar)

Taking to Twitter, the LG said he would not be surprised if in the forthcoming days more such “baseless, personal attacks” were made against him and his family.

“I called for good governance, zero tolerance to corruption and better services for the people of Delhi,” Saxena wrote in the statement shared on Twitter.

Saxena further wrote Kejriwal should know that under no circumstances will the governor be deterred from fulfilling his constitutional duties. “My commitment to improving the lives of the people of Delhi remains unwavered.”

On Wednesday, officials of the LG House said that he will take legal action against some AAP leaders, including Atishi, Jasmine Shah, Durgesh Pathak and Saurabh Bhardwaj, among others, for their “highly defamatory” and false corruption accusations against him.

Meanwhile, the AAP and the opposition BJP in Delhi continue to remain at loggerheads over several issues. On Monday, MLAs of both parties staged an overnight protest on the assembly premises amid corruption allegations levelled against each other. On Tuesday, BJP MLAs continued their agitation demanding the sacking of AAP ministers. They were marshalled out of the House for the third day on Wednesday as multiple adjournments and sloganeering by both camps stalled the proceedings.

The Kejriwal-led party has alleged that the saffron camp under its “Operation Lotus” made attempts to buy the former's MLAs. To this, as many as seven BJP MLAs wrote to the LG calling for an inquiry into the matter. The MLAs have asked Kejriwal to make the names of those from the BJP who approached the AAP public.

On Wednesday, AAP MLAs sat on a dharna outside the CBI headquarters in the national capital demanding that the federal agency lodge a complaint against the BJP's ‘Operation Lotus’. Later in the night, news agency PTI reported that the CBI “accepted” a complaint. Some of the agency officials reportedly took AAP's chief whip in Delhi Assembly Dilip K Pandey and Kalkaji MLA Atishi inside its premises to lodge their complaint.

(With agency inputs)