LG enjoying unlimited powers with no responsibility: CM

NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday attacked Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal for 'stalling' his government's works and urged that all the powers that the state government had during his Congress predecessor Sheila Dikshit's tenure be restored.

Speaking in the Assembly, Kejriwal demanded that the Services Department and Anti-Corruption Branch should be given back to Delhi government. He also said that the power for transfer, posting and vigilance inquiry should be restored and all files should not be sent to the LG for approval.

The Chief Minister said that Baijal was accountable only to the BJP-led Centre, adding that the LG "does things, which Hitler would not have done."

The Chief Minister's statement was in response to the Raj Niwas' response to the Outcome Report of the LG.

Kejriwal said that the LG very easily accepted the Outcome Report and, as per his statements, his office received more than 10,000 files in the tenure of the current elected government and 97 per cent files have been approved by LG.

This meant that 300 files could not be approved by him and that were related to Delhi government's policies. The LG office received nearly 5,000-6,000 files, the bulk of which are related to routine work related to Delhi Development Authority, Delhi Police and Vigilance, etc.

Kejriwal further said that Dikshit's government had powers to arrest and jail corrupt officers, but these were snatched away by the BJP-led Centre, three months after the Aam Aadmi Party came to power in Delhi.

He complained that during Dikshit's tenure, there was no requirement to send every file to the LG and that the the erstwhile Congress government had powers to carry out recruitment for filling up vacancies and fresh posts in Delhi government departments.

Kejriwal further said that a proposal for Delhi Health Corporation was rejected by the LG, with a note saying, "I don't think it's a good idea."

"Which rule was it violating? Even Hitler won't do," the CM said, adding that by not filling vacancies and saving corrupt officers, the LG wants to end the work taking place in Delhi.

He also said that Delhi is faced with a strange governance scenario, which "appears unprecedented in any democratic set-up across the world".

"The elected government which is responsible and accountable to the people has no power and the LG enjoys unlimited powers without any responsibility and accountability," he stated.

Later, a statement by the Delhi government said that the CM had requested the LG, in March last year, to replace the Food Commissioner since there were large-scale complaints about irregularities and corruption in ration distribution.

"In the course of the last one year, this request was repeated thrice, but the honourable Lieutenant-Governor chose to ignore it. What is the relation between the LG and the Food Commissioner? There has to be a reason for refusal to remove him even after large scale complaints," it said.

The CM added that his government is being questioned about ration distribution, "despite all efforts to improve the state of affairs" because of non-cooperation from the LG and his appointed officers.

"Let the Public Accounts Committee of the Delhi Vidhan Sabha and the CBI examine the ration distribution irregularities threadbare," he said.