India

Chief secretary appointment row: Modi-led govt wants Delhi govt to fail, alleges Arvind Kejriwal

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New Delhi: Reiterating his objection to the appointment of Shakuntala Gamlin as Delhi’s acting Chief Secretary by Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday alleged that it was a ploy on part of the Centre to ensure that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government fails in fulfilling its duties.

“The Narendra Modi-led government wants the Delhi Government to fail. The Secretary, who is in cahoots with the power companies, is being made the Chief Secretary of Delhi,” Kejriwal said while addressing the Auto Samvaad here.

“After so much of protest, why is she still being made the Chief Secretary? This raises a doubt in my mind… But I promise that till the time I am in-charge, I will keep a check on each and every move of her,” he added.

Kejriwal accused senior bureaucrat Shakuntala Gamlin, who was appointed as the acting Delhi Chief Secretary by the Lt Governor, of favouring power companies and claimed that she wanted to trick the government into signing documents which would give Rs 11,000 crore to these firms.

At his ‘Auto Samwaad’ public meeting in north Delhi’s Burari, Kejriwal also alleged that the Narendra Modi government wanted to make the AAP dispensation “fail”.

“When our government was formed, she came to our power minister to sign a letter, saying that Reliance-owned power companies have applied for a loan of Rs 11,000 crore. She wanted the minister to sign the document and said it was just a formality.

“When our minister got this letter checked, it turned out to be a guarantee letter. If Reliance-owned power companies failed to pay the loan, the burden would come on the people and the rates in Delhi would have increased two-three fold,” he said.

Kejriwal said that Gamlin was appointed the Chief Secretary of Delhi despite objections raised by his government. “We opposed the appointment of Chief Secretary (Gamlin), but Modi’s government appointed her as CS. We have been struggling for last four days, but Modi’s government wanted to make Delhi’s government fail,” he alleged.

He added that his government would keep a tab on Gamlin’s work as acting Chief Secretary for the next 10 days and would ensure that every file going to the Chief Secretary’s office passes through the Chief Minister’s Office.

“It raises suspicions that they (BJP-led central government) will do something wrong in 10 days, but I assure you that I will keep a tab on her (Gamlin) and every file will go through me,” he said.

The Delhi Chief Minister has sought an appointment with President Pranab Mukherjee for an urgent intervention on the matter.

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