Don"t Follow Lieutenant Governor"s Orders, Arvind Kejriwal Says in Escalating Turf War

New Delhi:  Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has instructed his government not to follow any directions or order from Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung’s office without running it by him first, as the raging turf war between the capital’s two top men spiked to a new level.

In a circular to all departments, Mr Kejriwal has said that to ensure smooth functioning, “it is hereby ordered that any direction or order, whether oral or written, received from Honorable LG or his office to the Chief Secretary or any administrative Secretary, shall first be submitted by the concerned administrative Secretary/Chief Secretary on the file to the Minister incharge and the Chief Minister for a decision.”

Mr Kejriwal makes it clear that acting Chief Secretary Shakuntala Gamlin, whose appointment by the Lieutenant Governor escalated a running feud between the two men, has to “strictly adhere” to the order.

“This order is illegal; it is an insult to the Constitution,” said BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay.

The instructions, citing a rulebook for Delhi, come a day after the Lieutenant Governor wrote to the Delhi Government saying its decision to remove an officer and appoint another were “void” as he had not cleared them.

The acrimonious back-and-forth began last week over Mr Jung’s decision to promote IAS officer Shakuntala Gamlin as acting chief secretary, making her Delhi’s top bureaucrat, allegedly without the Chief Minister’s consent.

Mr Kejriwal has vehemently opposed the move, alleging that Ms Gamlin has tried to favour power distribution companies in Delhi and acted against public interest. He declared on Sunday that he would keep close tabs on the officer in the 10 days that she would act as Chief Secretary.

He will discuss what he calls blatant overreach by the Lieutenant Governor in his meeting with President Pranab Mukherjee this evening. AAP has also said Mr Kejriwal will write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.