Jung overreach: Delhi LG's ridiculous stance has made Arvind Kejriwal a winner

The ‘bechara’ is back. The BJP and its puppets have given a fresh lease of life to Arvind Kejriwal. They have revived the legend of the Chief Minister nobody wants to succeed; the battle over bureaucratic appointments has once again generated a wave of sympathy for Kejriwal, washing away some of his recent political sins. The democratically-elected CM of a Delhi is fighting for the right to choose his own team; like all other CMs in the country, Kejriwal too wants the power to decide which bureaucrat is best suited for a job. But the lieutenant governor (LG) of Delhi has put his foot down. The man who works as a proxy for the Centre, wants to thrust his own decisions on the CM. He wants Kejriwal to work with a team selected by the LG’s office. After unilaterally appointing the chief secretary, LG Najeeb Jung has now quashed all bureaucratic appointments by the Kejriwal government in the past week, saying only the LG has the power to appoint and transfer, from IAS officers to stenos. Fundamentally, this is a ridiculous stand-off. The people of Delhi have chosen Kejriwal to run the Delhi government, not the LG. Jung should respect the mandate of the people, the spirit of democracy and let Kejriwal take independent decisions and face their consequences. The LG should gracefully revert to being what he is—a ceremonial head—and let Kejriwal run the show. [caption id=“attachment_2251572” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo. Reuters[/caption] The idea of a neutered CM in a democracy is absurd. What is the point of having a democratically-elected CM if he can’t even handpick his own steno and his decisions can be trashed by somebody who claims extraordinary powers but no responsibility? Can we even imagine the absurdity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi fighting with the President over the appointment of his finance secretary or some other bureaucrat? There is no history of such an ugly stand-off between the Delhi CM and the LG over the appointment of bureaucrats. There is not a shred of evidence to believe that the LG was equally proactive during the tenures of Madan Lal Khurana, Sahab Singh Verma, Sushma Swaraj and Sheila Dikshit; that similar attempts were made to remote-control Kejriwal’s predecessors. Obviously, Jung is the pioneer of this new war. Kejriwal’s critics believe they have a case against him. They have various arguments justifying Jung’s activism: The Delhi LG has extra-ordinary powers and Kejriwal is just a quasi CM. He is a mayor masquerading as the head of an assembly that should have ideally been called a municipality. He has no business questioning the LG’s interference and should humbly accept whatever administrative decisions are thrown at him. These are the terms and conditions of the Delhi CM’s job; he should not whine about them and accept his limitations gracefully… Fair enough. The Indian Express has pointed out that the LG has a wide-range of powers; some of them are not clearly defined and thus leave ample scope for ambiguity. Yet, in this particular instance, he seems to be deviating from the rulebook. ‘Rule 45, which deals with the LG’s “Executive Functions”, allows the LG to exercise his powers in matters connected to ‘public order’, ‘police’ and ‘land’ “in consultation with the Chief Minister, if it is so provided under any order issued by the President under Article 239 of the Constitution”. Another clause, related to when an issue can be referred to the central government, says that in case of a difference of opinion between the LG and a Minister, the LG must first try to settle the issue through “discussion”. In case the difference of opinion persists, the LG can “direct that the matter be referred to the Council of Ministers”. If, however, there is difference of opinion between the LG and the Council of Ministers, the LG must refer it to the central government for “the decision of the President”, and is bound to abide by it.” Under Clause 55 (2), subject to instructions issued by the central government, the LG is bound to make a “prior reference” to the Centre with regard to proposals for the “appointment of Chief Secretary and Commissioner of Police, Secretary (Home) and Secretary (Lands)”.’ So far, there is no evidence Jung followed the procedure laid down in the rule book. And lawyers like Indira Jaising and Rajiv Dhavan are justified in slamming Jung for creating this crisis. “This crisis has been created entirely by the Lt-Governor. It is abundantly clear that the Lt-Governor has exceeded his authority and has turned the entire relationship between himself and the Council of Ministers on its head to jeopardise democracy and the Constitution,” Dhavan wrote when his opinion was sought by the Delhi government. It is apparent Kejriwal is being singled out for treatment as a rubber stamp’s puppet to ensure that his government doesn’t settle down and he becomes synonymous with anarchy, fights and ego tussles. The political price of letting Kejriwal succeed is huge and after the thrashing in Delhi, both the Congress and the BJP want Kejriwal to trip and run away, this time never to return. But, Kejriwal isn’t repeating his bhagora act. He has the support of 66 MLAs and his government, unless something dramatic happens, is not going to fall in 149 days. By trying to paralyse his government, his detractors are turning him into a martyr, a victim of political conspiracies and giving him valid reasons to blame the Centre for raising roadblocks. Kejriwal is best when he is a bechara, a subject of public sympathy. This silly jung (fight) will only add to his image of a crusader against the system. There will be just one winner of this Kejri-war.