AAP govt bypasses Jung, appoints yet another bureaucrat

The AAP government has appointed new General Administration Department Secretary Arvind Ray to replace Anindo Majumdar who it had sacked.

Majumdar was removed on Saturday after he issued an order notifying the appointment of IAS officer Shakuntala Gamlin as acting chief secretary on Friday.

Meanwhile, Jung earlier in the day met President Pranab Mukherjee over this conflict after he decided to promote IAS officer Shakuntala Gamlin as acting chief secretary.

Kejriwal also met the President.

Emerging from the meeting, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said: "We told the President that the Lt Governor is attempting to run a government as if Delhi is under the President's Rule.  We told the President that the LG sir is trying to run the Delhi Govt on his own terms."

Earlier,  Kejriwal has instructed bureaucrats not to follow any order from Jung without running it by him.

In a circular late on Monday,  Kejriwal said  for 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 in charge and the Chief Minister for a decision."

Kejriwal cited rules under the Constitution, which, he alleged, the Lieutenant Governor had bypassed.

"Delhi has an elected government. Earlier governments surrendered, we won't," said Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

Kejriwal has also received flak from the oppositions over his move.

Meanwhile, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on the same day said the people of Delhi was making a "very costly experiment" with Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party heading the state government.

"The people of Delhi experimented with a new party in the elections, but its a very costly experiment. Governance is not AAP's political agenda," he said while speaking at a programme of the Bharaitya Janata Party.

Reacting to his comment, AAP's Ashutosh said: "He can't understand what is an electoral politics and therefore he should shut up."

Earlier this month,  Kejriwal had told his officers to route every file through his office and "not bother" the Lieutenant Governor for every decision. AAP accuses  Jung, who reports to the Centre, of acting on behalf of the ruling BJP.

The tussle grew strong last week over  Jung's unilateral decision to promote IAS officer Shakuntala Gamlin as acting chief secretary, making her Delhi's top bureaucrat.

Vehemently opposing this, Kejriwal alleged that 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.