Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday met Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena ahead of the Lok Sabha session tomorrow wherein the Union government will table Delhi Ordinance Bill seeking to replace an ordinance on matters related to services in the national capital, news agency PTI reported. Either side has not commented on the details of the meeting that lasted more than half an hour at the Raj Niwas. PTI reported sources as claiming that the meeting was "cordial" and the two constitutional functionaries discussed issues related to Delhi.
"It was basically a reach-out meeting that took place close on the heels of a Van Mahotsav programme held at the Asola Bhati Wildlife Sanctuary recently, where a bonhomie was witnessed between Saxena and Kejriwal who attended the event together," a source told PTI.
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Speaking at the programme, Saxena said the observations of the Chief Minister needed to be implemented while he also supported Kejriwal's assertion that the green cover of Delhi would be increased from 23 per cent to 25 per cent in the next couple of years.
The ordinance was issued by the Centre a week after the Supreme Court on May 11 ordered that the elected dispensation of Delhi will have executive control over services matters including the transfer and posting of bureaucrats in the Delhi government.
The ordinance sought to nullify the top court verdict by coming up with a three-member National Capital Civil Services Authority (NCCSA) headed by the chief minister. The authority included the chief secretary and the principal secretary (home) in the Delhi government as its members.
The NCCSA is empowered to decide services matter with a majority, effectively putting services matters again in the Centre's domain.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has challenged the ordinance in the Supreme Court. Kejriwal toured across the country, meeting opposition leaders to drum up support against the Bill to replace the ordinance.