An important NITI Aayog meeting on Sunday was eclipsed by the drama enacted by the Aam Aadmi Party against the Lt Governor. Thousands of AAP supporters and leaders took out a street march against the constitutional authority and by extension against the Union Government in Delhi, demanding that the bureaucrats attached to the Delhi Government should end their strike and work alongside the regime led by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
As a counter the Delhi IAS Association held a Press conference in which its members trashed the allegation and said they were never on strike. That they were reluctant to attend meetings called by Ministers, remains known. But this is due to the insulting attitude of Delhi’s Ministers towards the bureaucrats. The assault on no less than the Chief Secretary at a midnight meeting at the Chief Minister’s residence in February, allegedly in the presence of the Chief Minister, is still fresh in memory.
The Kejriwal Government has not issued one line of apology for the incident. Besides, the bureaucrats have alleged that often they were asked to do things that went against the constitutional scheme of things for Delhi. The AAP protest march was clearly a method to put pressure on the Centre to resolve an issue that is of the AAP’s making. The fact is that it was for the Delhi Government to take the initiative. But the trust factor is so sorely missing that this appears an impossible task. In the eventuality, the Centre will have to find some way out. However, it does not help matters when AAP leaders, instead of appearing conciliatory, up the ante against the officers, the Lt Governor and the Centre. A clutch of non-NDA Chief Ministers has also joined issues and extended support to Kejriwal, thus further muddying the waters. AAP leaders say that the matter of the Chief Secretary’s assault is under investigation, but the issue is more than legal; it revolves round the mindset of the Delhi Government which is confrontationist rather than inclusive.
Chief Minister Kejriwal’s sit-in at the Lt Governor’s residence is part of that mindset. The Chief Minister erroneously believes that confrontation is a good way to gain political dividend, but he must bear in mind that governance is the ultimate victim. The AAP had been elected with a massive majority to provide good governance and not to enact political dramas. The earlier the AAP recognises this, the better it will be for it and for the people of Delhi.
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