Delhi LG Hits Out At CM Kejriwal, To File Defamation Against AAP MLAs

Breaking his silence on the allegations thrown by the Aam Aadmi Party, Delhi Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena hit back at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. He charged the Delhi CM with resorting to 'diversionary tactics and false accusations' out of 'desperation'.

In a special assembly session called by the AAP government to pass a confidence motion, AAP had accused the Delhi LG of a “Rs 1,400 crore scam” when he was the Chairman of Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC). The AAP MLAs even staged a dharna outside Delhi LG’s residence.

Lately, the AAP government and its ministers in Delhi have been embroiled in serious charges of corruption.

With Health Minister Satyendra Jain already in jail over hawala transactions, evidence is piling against the Education and Excise Minister, Manish Sisodia over irregularities and procedural lapses found in Delhi’s Excise Policy.

The emergence of a 2.5-year-old CVC report, looking into financial misconduct in the construction of classrooms, has added to the woes of CM Kejriwal and his government.

Issuing a statement, Delhi LG said that he called for good governance, zero tolerance for corruption and better services for the people of Delhi. But unfortunately, Delhi CM in desperation has resorted to diversionary tactics and false accusations. He added that he would not be surprised if more baseless personal attacks are made on him and his family.

In his tweets, Delhi LG highlighted the issues flagged by him, which might have irked the AAP government.

The issues, he said, included grave anomalies in Excise Policy later withdrawn by the Cabinet headed by CM Kejriwal, an Inordinate delay of 2.5 years in acting on the CVC report on irregularities in the construction of Classrooms in Delhi Govt Schools, files not being signed by CM among others.

The Delhi LG, on Wednesday, had decided to take legal action against AAP leaders, Saurabh Bhardwaj, Atishi, Durgesh Pathak and Jasmine Shah, among others – for making “defamatory” and false allegations against him.

The ruling AAP government had been accused by the opposition of fabricating the bogey of “Operation Lotus” and “Khadi scam” to create a smokescreen and evade serious questions on alleged graft.