The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Latest bone of contention between CS, govt: RWA meet with BJP candidate during MCC
SETTING THE stage for yet another tussle between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Delhi government and the bureaucracy, Urban Development Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj Friday wrote to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) over what he termed was the “questionable conduct” of Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar.
Bharadwaj alleged that Kumar chaired “patently illegal meetings” with RWA members of the South Delhi constituency in presence of BJP'S candidate Ramvir Singh Bidhuri during the imposition of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) for the General Elections.
The same officer, the UD Minister said, citing official documents to Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, was “taking the excuse” of the MCC being in place for not sending reports related to the desilting of drains in time.
Sources in the bureaucracy sought to argue that such meetings were “neither illegal nor out of place” despite the MCC since “no new projects were being announced” during the interactions.
The BJP, on its part, accused Bharadwaj of engaging in mudslinging at a time when the capital was facing its “worst-ever water and electricity crisis”.
“The undersigned had directed the Chief Secretary on 20.05.2024 to provide desilting status of various drains...within 7 days,”b ha radwaj wrote. however, he said, the information was not received from kumar' s office even after 15 days after which he again wrote to him on june 5. to this, the CS gave a “very offensive” response, the minister added.
“In the note dated 05.06.2024 from the Chief Secretary, he is giving excuses that he had given directions to the Addl.cs (UD) and he did not respond. This sounds like a lame excuse... Chief Secretary simply did nothing...” Bharadwaj alleged.
The CS, Bharadwaj alleged, also did not take action against heads of various departments who failed to show up for a meeting on February 13 regarding a strategy of scientific drain managementto avoid water logging in Delhi during monsoon. “...the Chief Secretary is suggesting that Action Taken Reports are being provided to the Hon'ble High Court. Therefore, he is not obliged to provide a report to the Elected Government,” Bharadwaj said.
In the meantime, Bharadwaj said he had knowledge of meetings held in April by the CS with RWA members in the presence of Bidhuri.
Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said the stalling of developmentwork across delhi was a result of “a decade of AAP leaders' fights” with L-GS and Chief Secretaries. “It will be better if the Kejriwal government works in tandemwiththel-gandcsinthe interest of the development of Delhi,” Sachdeva said.