L-G junks Delhi govt plea seeking nod for Arvind Kejriwal's Singapore visit to attend summit

Lieutenant governor VK Saxena has rejected the file submitted by the Delhi government seeking his approval for the chief minister's Singapore visit to attend a summit next month since it's a conference of mayors, said the L-G office.

In a setback for Arvind Kejriwal, lieutenant governor (L-G) VK Saxena has rejected the file submitted by the Delhi government seeking his approval for the chief minister's Singapore visit to attend a summit in August since it's a conference of mayors, said the L-G office on Thursday.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. (ANI Photo)

The L-G advised Kejriwal to not attend the World Cities Summit in Singapore since it is a conference of mayors and won't be befitting for a chief minister to attend it, news agency ANI quoted official sources as saying.

However, Kejriwal, in a letter, has declared that he would "go ahead" with the visit.

"I humbly beg to differ with the advice of the Hon'ble Lieutenant Governor," Kejriwal wrote in response.

"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. Then the Prime Minister would not be able to go anywhere because in most of his visits, he also discusses subjects which which fall in state list and do not fall in his jurisdiction," the letter added.

ANI reported that Saxena has returned the proposal regarding the foreign visit of Kejriwal while noting that the conference will be covering different aspects of urban governance, which are addressed by diverse bodies like the MCD, DDA and NDMC apart from the city government.

The L-G said the Delhi government does not have exclusive domain over the issues and it will be 'inappropriate' for a chief minister to attend it.

Recently, Kejriwal wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to protest an alleged delay in getting approval for his planned visit to Singapore to participate in the World Cities Summit (WCS) on August 2-3 and said that stopping the planned visit of a chief minister to such an important platform is against the interests of the country.

According to an official from the Delhi government, the chief minister has termed the delay as “wrong”. “The Singapore government has invited chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to present the Delhi model at the global summit. It will be presented before the world leaders,” the official said.

Last month, a row erupted over the “delay” in permission to the visit. The World Cities Summit (WCS) is an exclusive platform for government leaders and industry experts to address liveable and sustainable city challenges, share integrated urban solutions and forge new partnerships. According to an official from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, the chief minister’s office (CMO) submitted a file to the lieutenant governor’s (L-G) office on June 7 seeking approval for the official foreign tour, but the approval has not been given yet.