Amid a row over Delhi lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena rejecting a proposal for chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s Singapore visit, the duo met on Friday for their weekly meeting. Kejriwal said there was “no fallout” between the two and it was important for Delhi’s development that both work together.
Saxena had last week rejected the AAP-led government’s proposal for the chief minister’s Singapore visit to attend a summit on August 1, saying his attendance at the mayors’ conference will set a “bad precedent”.
While Kejriwal had skipped the weekly meeting last Friday, this time he attended and said, “The meeting took place in a very cordial atmosphere. It is important for Delhi that the CM and the LG work together. There can be differences of opinion on various matters but there is no fallout between us.”
According to news agency YEARSKejriwal said he discussed several issues with the L-G, including water, cleanliness, electricity among others. “We will work together as we have always done so far,” Kejriwal was quoted as saying.
He added: “We may have a difference of opinions on various issues. Matbhed ho sakte hain, manbhed nahi hai. He is LG and I’m CM – we may have different opinions on issues but we’ll sort out those issues through discussions and work together. Important for Delhi that CM and LG work together.”
Kejriwal’s comments came a day after the Delhi government blamed the Centre for the CM being unable to visit Singapore for the World Cities Summit, saying this had brought humiliation to the country and the city. The file for the Centre’s permission for the chief minister’s visit was sent to the L-G on June 7, which was returned on July 21.
“Not only was there much delay by then but the last date of July 20 for completing the travel formalities had also passed,” the Delhi government said in a statement. It also claimed that it was the Centre’s intention to stop the CM from speaking at an international forum “about world class works done in Delhi in health, education and other fields”.
“Only the central government can be held responsible for CM Arvind Kejriwal not being able to attend the World Cities Summit in Singapore and the subsequent humiliation the country has had to face,” a statement read.
“It is clear from this that the intention of the central government was to prevent the chief minister from talking about the world-class work done in Delhi,” it read, adding, “the goal of the central government may have been accomplished, but it is also responsible for the way the country has faced disgrace amongst the global community.”
Earlier in the day, the ministry of external affairs also said it had received a request last week for political clearance for the Delhi CM’s visit to Singapore but the host government had shared certain updates and changes in its invitation with the Delhi government. MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, “As we conveyed last week, we received an entry on our political clearance portal on July 21.”
The Delhi government had directly applied to the MEA for clearance to Kejriwal’s visit the day L-G office returned the file commenting it was not befitting of a chief minister to attend a mayors’ conference. Kejriwal had also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking permission to attend the summit.
Last month, High Commissioner of Singapore, Simon Wong, had invited Kejriwal for the World Cities Summit.
(With PTI inputs)
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