Letter wars between LG and Delhi govt as Baijal hits back at Dy CM Sisodia

Baijal wrote to Sisodia that should not have made the letter public, and rather taken up concerns over administrative issues over a personal discussion.

: Delhi Lieutenant Governor (LG) Anil Baijal on Thursday wrote to deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia criticising his letter accusing the LG of encroaching upon the domain of the elected government by holding meetings with bureaucrats independently without involving the ministers concerned on important matters.

Deputy chief minister Sisodia did not respond to requests for comment. (PTI file photo)

Baijal wrote to Sisodia that should not have made the letter public, and rather taken up concerns over administrative issues over a personal discussion. The LG shared details of meetings held by his office in the past three months – which involved issues such as Covid-19 management, implementation of public welfare schemes such as ‘One Nation, One Ration Card’, water supply and housing – adding that Sisodia’s letter did not specify any instance of “obstruction” and accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government of looking at his efforts through a “biased lens”.

“Several complicated administrative issues involve multiple departments and it is needless to say that on matters of public importance the opinion of the elected government should be in favour of cooperation and harmony… Your letter does not mention any specific instance of obstruction caused to decision of the elected government on any issue… It is unfortunate that my efforts with clean intent towards public welfare were seen through a biased lens and misinterpreted. In the end, I want to repeat that I shall continue fulfilling my constitutional responsibilities aimed at serving the people of Delhi,” said Baijal’s letter to Sisodia written in Hindi, a copy of which HT has seen.

Deputy chief minister Sisodia did not respond to requests for comment.

He further said that some of the meetings with the chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana regarding shortage of water supply in Delhi were chaired on chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s request.

Sisodia, in a letter to Baijal, sent on Saturday, objected to the LG holding meetings with bureaucrats and alleged that he instructed them on work that came under the purview of the elected government. Sisodia called the LG’s actions “murder of democracy” and violative of the Supreme Court judgment.

“Over the last few months, you have been calling prominent officials of the Delhi government to your office and issuing directions related to work of their departments. I have also come to know that you are issuing directions to the officials on subjects that come under the purview of the elected government, without even keeping the ministers in the loop, and later officials of the LG secretariat are pressuring the bureaucrats to implement such orders,” Sisodia said in the letter, a copy of which was seen by HT.

The deputy CM “humbly requested” Baijal to desist from such “activities”. “Under the Constitution, the Delhi LG can take decisions only on police, land and public order,” Sisodia said, citing the Supreme Court order of July 4, 2018, which said that the L-G should work with the aid and advice of the elected government.

In his response to Sisodia’s letter, Baijal said: “I want to inform you that all meetings in this office are very much within its domain. These meetings are essential in the light of better coordination among multiple agencies and they are important in ensuring efficient implementation of welfare schemes and programmes. Such meetings aimed at fulfilment of responsibilities of this office towards ensuring public welfare are not new but never before have any objections been raised against them. It is unfortunate that my efforts to ensure better administration of the city by aiming at better coordination and giving equal weightage to various agencies are being subjected to wrongful allegations instead of due appreciation.”

“Whatever be the reason, the letter (dated July 17) should not have been made public in the light of the subjects being sensitive and roles and responsibilities associated with constitutional offices involved in this regard. Instead, on these issues, you could have met me personally and over a discussion I could have helped in clearing doubts. As I said, I am fulfilling my constitutional responsibilities and I do not hesitate to share details – as documented in my office records – with you about any of the meetings held in my office in the last three months,” he said.

He asserted that all the meetings were conducted through video conference and not necessarily through physical attendance of all stakeholders in Raj Niwas. “When decisions are to be taken, concerned officials and ministers were invited to attend these meetings… Several complicated administrative issues involve multiple departments,” he said.