“If TV channels who are reporting this have letters from officers seeking transfers, please share them with us,” said Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, in a series of acerbic tweets.
He met this morning with top bureaucrats to address their concerns.
Sources in the Union Home Ministry, which plays a large role in the governance of Delhi, told NDTV yesterday that nearly 20 officers have asked to be moved out of the capital, unwilling to risk being made prisoners of the war between Chief Minister Arivnd Kejriwal and Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung.
For years, the two men have exchanged accusations of assuming powers beyond those concomitant with their offices. But the feud shot well past the danger mark last week over the Lieutenant Governor’s decision to appoint Shakuntala Gamlin as the Acting Chief Secretary of top bureaucrat in the Delhi government. Mr Kejriwal says that the Lieutenant Governor had no right to over-ride his objections to Ms Gamlin, who, he accuses of serving as a lobbyist for power companies. The Lieutenant Governor says that as the centre’s representative in Delhi, he has the final call on the appointments of government officers.
Both Mr Kejriwal and Mr Jung, armed with legal opinion backing their cases, met separately with President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday.
The sniping over Ms Gamlin has affected other bureaucrats, one of whom was locked out of his office by the Delhi government.
“If a single bureaucrat gets affected, it affects the entire structure of bureaucratic hierarchy…and ends up reducing the initiative and will to work of other bureaucrats,” cautioned Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Personnel, which is the principal coordinator for the country’s bureaucracy.
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