Delhi LG Writes To Kejriwal, Accuses Him Of Resorting To A 'Low Level Of Discourse'

In the ongoing power tussle involving two constitutional functionaries of Delhi, Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena on Friday wrote a stinging letter to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, accusing him of making 'misleading and derogatory remarks' and resorting to a 'low level of discourse'.

He also accused Kejriwal of adopting '"political posturing" during his march to Raj Niwas on January 16 along with his deputy Manish Sisodia and AAP MLAs.

Saxena said he invited Kejriwal for a meeting. But the Chief Minister chose not to come on the pretext of wanting to meet him with all his MLAs.   Given the short notice and sudden demand on Kejriwal's part, it would not have been possible to have a meeting with 70 to 80 people at once, nor would have it served any concrete purpose, he said. 

"Unfortunately, you went ahead to make a convenient political posture that 'the LG refused to meet me'," Saxena said. 

"I must mention here that I was rather astounded at the fact that even as the city is grappling with several serious developmental issues, you found time to walk for long and stage a protest meant solely for posturing, rather than taking the issue to a logical conclusion by meeting me," the LG wrote to Kejriwal.

Reacting over matters pertaining to Delhi’s education system and teachers’ training, the LG said that it is right to bring into CM’s attention certain issues pertaining to educational sectors in the national capital.  

He said, “In doing so, I am not acting as a ‘Head Master’, as you have been sarcastically referring to me, but as a benign yet conscientious voice of the people that derives its sanctity from the ethical and moral moorings of the Constitution of India.” 

The LG went on to highlight data relating to the enrollment, attendance, and level of education in various Delhi Government schools. He said that average attendance in schools has fallen down to reach 60.65 per cent in 2019-20 as compared to 70.73 per cent in 2012-13, reports ABP News.

“Enrollment in government schools that stood at 16.1 lakh during 2012-2014, consistently came down to 15.1 lakh in 2019-2020,” he wrote adding that this happened despite the fact that the population of the city continued to grow during this period. 

LG Saxena wrote that in a recent meeting with the CM, he had flagged the issue of not building any new schools in the national capital during the last eight years, ‘despite DDA allotting 13 plots to the Education Department, GNCTD, since as long as 2015.’ 

Referring to Kejriwal's attack on him in the Assembly two days ago, Saxena said, "As to 'who is LG' and 'where did he come from', can be answered, if you were to even cursorily refer to the Constitution of India, others do not deserve a reply, since they obviously cater to a very low level of discourse."

(With inputs from PTI)