Najeeb Jung gets some unexpected support from Arvind Kejriwal
NEW DELHI: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday described lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung as “a good man with bad political bosses”.
“Congress n BJP both demanding Sh Najeeb Jung’s removal? Strange. Is he at fault? No. He is doin what PMO is asking him to do, (sic)” Arvind Kejriwal tweeted.”Removing him will not help. His successor wud also do same if PMO kept interfering. Real solution is PMO shud stop interfering in Delhi, (sic)” he added.
“Sh Najeeb Jung is a good man with bad political bosses,” the Delhi CM said.
On Friday, BJP MP from North West Delhi Udit Raj took a dig at Jung for being “inaccessible”. Raj said Jung was behaving like a “super king” and is doing a clerk’s job. He said that he will write to the central government for LG’s removal.
“The LG has become a super king. He doesn’t answer our (MPs) calls. He is doing clerki. It is difficult to gan appointment or speak with him,” said Raj.
While addressing the media on a recent incident in which his personal secretary was arrested for allegedly assaulting a district magistrate, Raj blamed the government and LG for not addressing people’s concerns. He alleged that MPs don’t have direct access to the LG and said that he will write to the Centre for his removal. “A bureaucrat has been appointed Delhi’s LG. He must be removed. No one listens to us (elected members). As elected members we can only ask government officials to get the work done. Where should we go?” he said.
While AAP has been attacking Jung for interfering in the state government’s functioning, this is the first time a BJP member has hit out at him. This is likely to put BJP in a tight spot since the party has supported Jung in the ongoing tussle between the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government and the LG office.
The MP alleged that despite being an elected representative, he doesn’t have direct access to the lieutenant governor.
“It takes three-four days to get an opportunity to speak to him. He has not shared his mobile number with us. There are just seven MPs, why can’t he give his cell number to us?” he said.
The Congress party on Saturday also called for the removal of Jung, saying that the latter has undermined the federal basis of the constitution and is not fit to occupy the post.
“The lieutenant governor has completely undermined the federal basis of the constitution. He has completely acted as an agent of the central government,” Congress leader Manish Tewari told ANI.
“He is not fit to occupy this position. The sooner he is removed, the better is for India’s federalism,” he added.
