After ‘breakfast’ with Kejriwal, Jung meets PM

Najeeb Jung, whose resignation on Thursday as Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor surprised many, called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday and said he had wanted to quit earlier but was asked by the Prime Minister to continue.

Jung reached the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) at South Block here around 11.30 am and spent a little over an hour inside. Sources said it was a courtesy meeting. Earlier in the day, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had an hour-long meeting with Jung over breakfast during which the latter reminisced their nearly two-year-long association in governing the city besides discussing other issues. The CM said he was invited by Jung for the breakfast meeting. Sources said they spoke about the bitter-sweet times. 

Rejecting speculations over his resignation due to political pressure, Jung said on Friday that he had asked to quit twice before but Prime Minister Narendra Modi had urged him to stay on. Jung said this time, he insisted that he wanted to quit on personal grounds.

“There is no politics behind it. This was a decision I took earlier,” he said. “I have a mother who is 95 and need to give her time and I need to give time to kids, grandkids. I can’t take leave in this job,” he shared.

A running feud with the AAP government and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal virtually defined Jung’s three years in office. Jung added that he first offered to resign when the Modi-government came to power in May 2014, months before Kejriwal’s party won the Delhi election.