Delhi government said delay in meetings with Lt Governor has led to pending issues. (File)
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has written to Lt Governor Anil Baijal seeking a meeting with him to discuss issues concerning the national capital. In his letter, Mr Kejriwal also specified that the Lt Governor and the Chief Minister should meet at least once a week.
In his letter, the Delhi Chief Minister said he could not meet Mr Baijal on Wednesday due to the Assembly's one-day special session, adding that the
Lt Governor and the Chief Minister should meet more frequently, at least once a week.
The letter comes at a time when the ruling Aam Aadmi Party has been seeking to corner the Lt Governor's office over sacked Delhi Minister Kapil Mishra's frequent meetings with the Lt Governor.
The party has alleged that Mr Baijal has never time to meet its MLAs, while Mr Mishra could easily reach him. Mr Mishra had met Mr Baijal on May 29.
Mr Mishra, the Karawal Nagar MLA, had met the Lt Governor last month after levelling charges of corruption against Mr Kejriwal, whom he accused of taking unaccounted
Rs 2 crore from Health Minister Satyendar Jain."Due to the special session of the assembly, we could not meet at 5.00 PM on Wednesday, our pre-scheduled weekly meeting time.
"Subsequently, my office has been seeking time from your office for our meeting. Yesterday, my office was informed that you are very busy this week and will be able to meet me only next week," the chief minister said in the letter.
"I fully appreciate that Hon'ble Lt Governor has too many things on his plate. But, as I had mentioned in my last letter also, the Chief Minister and Hon'ble Lt Governor should meet more frequently, at least once a week, to discuss issues related to development of Delhi," he added.
Reacting to the Chief Minister's letter, the Lt Governor's office said the Lt Governor meets the Chief Minister every Wednesday, but the last meeting could not be held due to the Delhi Assembly's special session.
"On Thursday, the schedule of the Lt Governor was already fixed and was very tight. On Friday itself, the office of Hon'ble LG coordinated with CM's office and confirmed the meeting on upcoming Wednesday," the Lt Governor's office said in a statement.
AAP MLA Alka Lamba also alleged that the Lt Governor has time for Mr Mishra, BJP legislators, but no time for the Chief Minister.
"It is hard to understand that Lt Governor has time for Mishra, BJP MLAs and he has also given me appointment at 12.30 PM on Monday, but why refusal to meet chief minister," the Chandi Chowk MLA tweeted.
Earlier this week, AAP's Delhi spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj had claimed that because the Lt Governor's office paid no heed to his requests for an appointment, works of several MLAs were stalled by municipal corporations.
"I requested for an appointment, wrote numerous letters, sent reminders, but the Lt Governor never met us," Mr Bharadwaj had claimed.