Authorities have denied charges that Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung refused to meet Water Minister Kapil Mishra and Health Minister Satyendar Jain yesterday.
The Lt Governor’s office said in a statement the two ministers had come without “either seeking prior appointment” from Jung or informing him of their visit, to discuss a major crisis arising out of the breakout of chikungunya disease.
“The Lt Governor’s office came to know of their visit only through the media gathered outside, who had prior intimation that they were going to visit the LG office,” the statement said.
Jung’s office stated his secretary met the ministers.
“However, they neither submitted any letter nor gave any representation to the Lt Governor,” it said.
The LG’s office also accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government of politicising the issue.
“It is regrettable that at a time when Delhi is facing such a serious public health crisis, the elected government is choosing to politicise the issue instead of providing succour to the public,” the statement said.
It added that the LG’s office was keeping a close watch on the health situation in Delhi and was getting regular updates from officials.
Mishra earlier alleged that Jung had “refused” to meet him and Jain.
Mishra said he and Jain had gone to meet Jung after the Lt Governor on Friday night asked Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia to immediately return from a visit to Finland.
“We thought there must be some urgency that is why the LG sent a fax to Manishji yesterday (Friday) asking him to return immediately. So we went to meet him to know about the issue. But when we reached his office, we were told that he won’t be coming to office as today (Saturday) is a weekend day.
“When we contacted him on phone, Jung told Jain that he was not at home too and could not meet us. Today the LG doesn’t want to discuss work,” Mishra alleged.
Asked if he had taken appointment before meeting the LG, Mishra said: “We cannot wait for the appointment when such an outbreak of vector borne disease is in Delhi.”
He alleged that the Lt Governor “blocked” his number and was not taking his calls.
Jain backed his colleague.
“The LG refused to talk on the issue of fax sent to Manish Sisodia by his office yesterday.”
Sisodia is in Finland on a tour to study the education framework there to improve the standard of education in Delhi government schools.
Sisodia on Friday denied he was holidaying in Finland, saying India needed to learn a “lot from their education system, the best in the world.”
Also yesterday, a panel appointed by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry ordered the Delhi government to “reimburse to the state exchequer” the entire amount that the AAP spent on its advertisements.
The committee on content regulation of government advertisements charged the AAP government with violating Supreme Court guidelines.
Its order said: “The committee directs the government of NCT of Delhi to get the entire expenditure so incurred on ... category .. reimbursed to the state exchequer from the Aam Aadmi Party.”
It was also critical of the advertisements carried out by AAP outside Delhi.
The panel said if some chief ministers thought they were “special” and their policies were vital to the entire nation, then such political parties should bear the expenditure of such publicity and not the government, an official said.
The three-member committee was headed by former chief election commissioner B B Tandon and included Ogilvy and Mather India’s Piyush Pandey and journalist Rajat Sharma of India TV.
The Congress demanded that a case be lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation against the AAP for siphoning off public funds for private purposes.
Addressing a press conference, Congress Delhi chief Ajay Maken said the amount being used for advertising under the AAP government’s tenure in Delhi has increased 14.5 times compared to previous governments.