AAP government to present LG’s ‘report card’ in House on Tuesday

NEW DELHI: Amid its continuing tussle with the lieutenant governor, the AAP government is likely to present LG Anil Baijal’s “report card” in the assembly on Tuesday. Through the exercise, the government aims to highlight how many files have been sent to LG in the last one year and how many of them have been rejected, cleared, or are pending.
The AAP government had recently criticised LG for “obstructing” all its work. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, as well as AAP ministers and MLAs, have raised the issue in the ongoing budget session of the assembly. The matter of presenting the “report card” is among the listed businesses of the assembly for Tuesday. On Monday, the House is likely to take up the tussle between the bureaucracy and the government. The AAP government has blamed LG for the rift, claiming that “LG supports the officers’ intransigence”.

During his speech while presenting the government’s Outcome Budget, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia had said that there should be a mechanism to hold LG accountable for delays caused in implementation of projects.

“Just like there is a system to hold ministers and officers accountable for delays, LG’s actions should also come on record as he is a part of the democratic system,” Sisodia had said, adding that there was no mention of how many times LG had returned a file or rejected it on “fictitious grounds”.

On March 26, AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj brought in a resolution demanding that the government present a report card on LG in the House. After the resolution was adopted, Sisodia told the House that he would present the report.

In its latest attack on LG for “objecting” to the free pilgrimage scheme for senior citizens, the CM had alleged that “LG is practically obstructing every scheme and every project of Delhi government”. The LG’s office, however, claimed that the files were not “rejected”, but returned for reconsideration.