Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena advised Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal not to attend the Singapore conference of Mayors. However, Kejriwal has declared to attend the meet any way that has been scheduled for after two weeks.
As per the official website of the Summit, it will bring together cities, corporate entities, and professionals at the top levels. The Summit will describe and analyze how cities can come out stronger from persistent and unforeseen instabilities. Essentially, it is a forum for global mayors, corporate leaders, and knowledge experts. They will share and co-create urban city solutions to make them inhabitable as well as sustainable at the same time. As per the sources, the NDMC is serving as the program’s anchor in the perspective of the WCS Smart Urban City Workshop, planned in conjunction with the conference.
Earlier, LG Vinai Kumar Saxena had filed his decision to Delhi Administration denying Kejriwal’s application for the trip. He has stated in the filing that this World Cities Summit sounds to be a meeting of mayors of various cities. He further mentioned in the statement that the topics that will be discussed there do not fall under the purview of the Delhi Government.
Response of Aam Admi Party
Later Aam Admi Party leaders responded by calling it “dirty politics” of the ruling party at the center. The Deputy CM of Delhi Manish Sisodia disapproved of the recommendations by LG Vinai Kumar. He further revealed that Arvind Kejriwal will seek political permission from the Central Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) for the trip.
“We will go ahead with the visit. Kindly apply for political clearance from the Central government.”
– Mr. Arvind Kejriwal stated in a tweet circulated online.
Following this, the conflict between Arvind Kejriwal, and Mr. Vinai Kumar become more heated. The conflict is about whether or not the former should go to Singapore for the summit. Mr. Saxena, is the Government of India (GoI) appointed Lieutenant Governor of Delhi now. He suggested that Arvind Kejriwal must abstain from a meeting that seems to be a gathering of mayors. And as per him, it is not appropriate for a chief minister to participate.
Stance of LG Vinai Kumar Saxena
The LG said that he has meticulously analyzed the nature of the platform. He has also gone through the work profile of other invitees, as well as the topics, declared for discussion there. He noted that the summit will encompass various aspects of urban management. As per him, various civic bodies including the NDMC, MCD, and DDA in addition to the Delhi government address any such issues of the Delhi.
He emphasized that the GNCTD does not wield complete authority over the problems related to the conference’s topic. And this will make a National Capital Territory CM’s attendance unsuitable. A CM addressing such a convention would also present a poor example in relation to the aforementioned factors.
“PM transcends domain as well.” – Arvind Kejriwal
In response, Mr. Arvind Kejriwal commented wittily on the LG’s domain point. And he remarked that if the visits for every Constitutional body is determined based on their purview, a “funny situation” will indeed result. He further described, that even the PM would be unable to travel if the list of topics were strictly adhered to. Kejriwal also stressed how the PM during most of his travels, talks about issues that are under the State jurisdiction and outside of his purview.
