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Delhi LG's response after Kejriwal's 'Who is he?', 'headmaster' remark
The sparring between the two sides continues to intensify.
Days after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's remarks in the Assembly drew criticism from rivals, including BJP leaders, Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena on Friday responded to his comments in a letter. Addressing the Chief Minister, the Lieutenant Governor said that "you have made many statements in and out the State Assembly which have been severally and substantively misleading, untrue and derogatory". On Tuesday, Kejriwal had yet again alleged interference by the Centre in the functioning of his government as he asked: "Who is LG? Where has he come from? I am the Chief Minister... and I have been elected by over two crore people in the national capital."
To these comments, LG Saxena gave a sarcasm-laced response in his letter: "As to 'who is LG' and 'where did he come' can be answered if you were to cursorily refer to the Constitution of India, others do not deserve a reply since they cater to a very low level of discourse."
He also reacted to Kejriwal's "you are not my headmaster" dig. "I deem it proper to bring to your attention certain issues so as to help you comprehend the issues at hand in totality a nd deal with them in a real and comprehensive manner. In doing so, I am not acting as a 'head master' but a benign and conscientious voice of the people," LG Saxena stressed in his letter.
The Chief Minister had hit out with the "headmaster" comment when he took out a march on Monday - along with his deputy Manish Sisodia and other AAP leaders - to the LG's office. He had repeated the comment in the Delhi Assembly the next day too.
Meanwhile, Kejriwal's mega march also found a mention in the LG's letter as he rebuffed the Chief Minister's "refused to meet me" comment, calling it "unfortunate". "I invited you and Deputy Chief Minister to come and see me... I would have indeed loved to have you and served you lunch as well. However, you chose not to come on the pretext of wanting to me meet with all of your MLAs. You would appreciate that given the short notice and sudden demand on your part, it would not have been possible to meet 70--80 people."
He also drew a comparison of enrolments and attendance at the government schools before and after the AAP government took over in what could be seen as the ruling party's claims of improving the condition of the schools. He also yet again reiterated that the proposal of teachers' training in Finland - which is among the latest flashpoints - was not rejected by him but only a "cost-benefit analysis" was sought.
