PMO like Queen of England, Jung sahab is viceroy: Kejriwal

In a frontal attack on the Modi government, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday accused it of trying to run Delhi through "backdoor" to protect the corrupt and said it had "back-stabbed" the people of the city by issuing a notification "siding" with the Lt Governor.

Hours after the home ministry issued the gazette notification saying it was not mandatory for the LG to consult the chief minister on matters like appointment of bureaucrats, Kejriwal said it showed the nervousness of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Centre over the anti-corruption efforts by his government.

The chief minister charged that Jung is just the face and the orders to him are coming from the Prime Minister’s Office. "Pre-independence, Queen of England used to send notifications to the viceroy here. Now, Jung sahab is the viceroy and the PMO is London."

He said the Aam Aadmi Party government was taking views of constitutional experts on the notification and a decision will be taken accordingly.

Kejriwal's deputy Manish Sisodia alleged that the development showed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh were "kneeling down" before corruption and the "thriving transfer-posting industry" which the AAP government had stopped in the last three months.

"Earlier, a lot of money was changing hands for transfers but now that has ended under the AAP government's three-month rule. Once we did it, the Congress and the BJP people failed to get contracts in Delhi. Then they went to the PMO.”

"Now, they have brought this notification as the BJP and the Congress want to have their own officers in Delhi and get government contracts for their own people and that is why they want control over the transfer-posting industry through the LG. By bringing in the notification, the Centre has back-stabbed the people of Delhi," the chief minister told reporters.

In the gazette notification issued on Friday, the Union home ministry said that the LG will have jurisdiction over matters connected with services, public order, police and land and he may consult with the chief minister whenever he thinks necessary in issues of services using his own "discretion".

Kejriwal pointed out that it also said that the anti-corruption branch police station shall not take any cognisance of offences against officials, employees and functionaries of the central government services and wondered who were the people Modi government was "trying to protect". He said such actions amount to promoting corruption.

Claiming that his government is the "most honest" government in the history of Delhi, Kejriwal said Jung has "never asked about water or electricity supply for the people of Delhi. He is only interested in transfers and postings."

The Delhi chief minister said, "The Modi government is trying to run Delhi with three BJP MLAs through backdoor."

The appointment of senior bureaucrat Shakuntala Gamlin as acting chief secretary by LG last week had triggered a full-blown war between the ruling AAP and the Lt Governor, with Kejriwal questioning the LG's authority and accusing him of trying to take over the administration.

The chief minister, who had recently written to Modi on the issue, also alleged that the main crux of the notification lies in its last paragraph which says that the anti-corruption branch of the Delhi government can't take any action against central government employees.

"Our government has brought corruption down in its last three months. 36 officials have been arrested and 52 have been suspended. There is terror among corrupt officials and our government is the most honest in the history of Delhi.”

"Now, the Centre wants that if the ACB sees any sort of corruption by its central government employees, it should overlook it," he said.

Earlier in a tweet, Kejriwal said, "The BJP first lost Delhi elections. Today's notification shows BJP's nervousness abt our anti-corruption efforts. BJP again lost today (sic)"

Reacting to the notification, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that it has become clear through this notification that the "Delhi's transfer-posting industry" is afraid of the AAP government.

"By this notification, it is clear that how the transfer industry of Delhi is afraid of us," Sisodia said in his series of tweets. "Through this (notification), it is being made efforts to save transfer-posting industry," he said.

Asked about his fight with Jung, Kejriwal said, "I do not have a fight with Jung sahab. My fight is against corruption.. Modi's government has been afraid of us since the AAP got 67 seats in the polls. The central government is creating hurdles in Delhi and despite that, we are working perfectly".

On MHA's notification, Kejriwal said the Centre may have to issue another notification "as the existing one has no clarity about transfer and posting of bureaucrats".

"As per suggestions I have got from experts, Center has used word 'services' in the notification. I have been told that transfer and posting do not come under the ambit of services. Services mean service condition like PF and others," Kejriwal said.

"For example, if you go to ONGC on deputation, ONGC has to take decision to send you to Dehradun or Assam, but if you have done something wrong there, your complaint is then registered with your parent cadre. Parent cadre looks into service condition. Perhaps, they (Central government) wanted to control over transfer and postings," he said.

Kejriwal further said, "They (Centre) will perhaps need to issue another notification to control over transfer and postings which they missed to mention in this notification. However, we are getting MHA's notification examined from experts and then, we will take next course of action accordingly."