Elected govt should have say in posting of top officials: Cong

Amid the bitter tussle between Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the Lt Governor, Congress on Sunday said views of the elected government must be respected including on posting of top bureaucrats and held that the face-off has seriously affected governance in the city.

DPCC Chief Ajay Maken said the confrontation has seriously affected <g data-gr-id="32">morale</g> of the bureaucrats which was a matter of serious concern.

“In <g data-gr-id="43">democracy</g>, the views of the elected government must be respected. The Chief Minister should have a say in posting of officials. There must be proper coordination between the LG and the Chief Minister,” Maken said when asked about the face-off between LG Najeeb Jung and Kejriwal on <g data-gr-id="42">appointment</g> of Shakuntala Gamlin as acting Chief Secretary.

The Congress leader also slammed Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju for commenting that AAP government’s allegation against her was an insult to people of Northeast. At the same <g data-gr-id="40">time</g> he also criticised AAP for casting aspersion on her.

“The political parties are playing political football on the issue which is very unfortunate. They must not use such issue for political gains,” he said.

Maken said development of Delhi has been affected due to the fight between Kejriwal and Jung. Sheila Dikshit, who served as Delhi Chief Minister for 15 years, also said that it would be city’s loss if the administration is not functioning properly.

“It will be Delhi’s loss if the administration is not functioning properly...playing with the administration like this is very <g data-gr-id="37">harmful for</g> Delhi,” the former CM said. 

“If there is no coordination between the L-G and the CM, an atmosphere of confrontation will be created which will cause more damage,” she said, adding this is neither good for Delhi nor for the administration.

The confrontation over the appointment of an acting Chief Secretary on Saturday turned into a full-blown war between the ruling AAP and Jung as Kejriwal asked him to work “within the confines” of the Constitution while alleging that he was trying to take over the administration.