Arvind Kejriwal and VK Saxena attended the event on Thursday.
The unending feud between Delhi's elected government and the centre-appointed Lieutenant Governor has found its latest flashpoint in the opening of a new university campus, with both sides vying for the credit for delivering the project.
The east Delhi campus of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU) was inaugurated by both Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal but not before it sparked a political face-off.
Delhi Education Minister Atishi, in a press conference on Tuesday, declared that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal would be inaugurating the new campus. This statement was contradicted by the LG's office, which expressed shock at the announcement, asserting that it was already decided that Mr Saxena would do the honours.
According to the LG's office, this information was not only put on file back in March 2023 but was also communicated to the Chief Minister's office. Mr Kejriwal had even requested a rescheduling of the event from May 23 to June 8 to accommodate his schedule, a request to which the LG's office had agreed.
The GGSIPU campus, a project that was conceptualized in 2013, was built at a cost of Rs 387 crore. "The campus building was funded by GGSIPU itself. Out of the total cost of Rs 387 crore, the Delhi government share was Rs 41 crore which was paid in three instalments, the last of which was released on June 5, 2023," the LG's office said.
The new campus will house the School of Planning and Architecture from July, in addition to the already present School of Automation and Robotics and School of Design and Innovation. These schools will share resources, including faculty members and labs, aiming to foster synergy between the courses they offer. The new campus has also implemented geothermal cooling technology for its residential and hostel blocks.
In response to the LG's office statement, Atishi argued that the Kejriwal government has been diligently working on education, higher education, and technical education over the last eight years.
"Today if you go on the streets of Delhi and ask any citizen about who brought the education revolution of Delhi, they will say Arvind Kejriwal, they will not say the BJP-appointed L-G worked on education," she said.
She claimed that the GGSIPU campus is part of three state university campuses the Kejriwal government is developing in the trans-Yamuna region.
"It is public knowledge that GGSIPU campus was the brainchild and dream project of Manish Sisodia and right from its planning, supervising its construction and curriculum, he was involved in every aspect of the project, well before the present L-G took charge," the minister added.