Delhi LG VK Saxena Invites CM Kejriwal, AAP MLAs For Meeting On Friday Amid Tussle Over Several Issues

With the row over approval for government school teachers' training in Finland escalating, Delhi LG VK Saxena has invited CM Arvind Kejriwal with 10 other MLAs for a meeting at Raj Niwas.

Delhi Lt Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal exchange greetings as JD(U) leader KC Tyagi looks on during the Republic Day 'at-home' event at Raj Niwas in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Source : PTI

Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena has invited Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his ministers and 10 other Aam Aadmi Party MLAs for a meeting with him at his official residence, the Raj Niwas, on Friday. The invitation comes at a time when the relation between the Delhi government and the Lieutenant Governor are strained.

The meeting will be held at 4 pm on Friday. Kejriwal earlier met Saxena at an event hosted by the Lieutenant Governor at Raj Niwas on Tuesday.

The CM and the LG have been at loggerheads over multiple issues, including the Delhi government's proposal to send its teachers for training to Finland. On January 16, Kejriwal and his party MLAs marched from the Vidhan Sabha to Raj Niwas to meet Saxena over the teachers' training proposal. 

The chief minister returned after waiting for nearly an hour, claiming the LG refused to meet him, his deputy Manish Sisodia, and AAP MLAs. Saxena denied the charge in a letter he wrote to Kejriwal days later, saying the chief minister insisted on a meeting, which would be attended by all his MLAs, and that it was not possible at such a short notice. 

However, Saxena and the CM seemed to 'bond' over the meeting as Kejriwal attended the 'at-home' function ahead of Republic Day hosted by the LG at Raj Niwas on Tuesday.

Earlier, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia lashed out at Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on January 21, accusing him of making "false allegations" against the education department and "mocking" the teachers working in the national capital. In a letter to Saxena, Sisodia said the LG's letter to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday was written with a political motive and his "false allegations" against the education department were an "insult" to the students and teachers of Delhi.

"The LG wrote the letter with a political motive and said no work has been done in the education department of Delhi. His allegations are an insult to the students and teachers of Delhi. I am requesting the LG not to mock the work of our teachers, who have done wonders in the department," Sisodia, who also holds the education portfolio, wrote to Saxena.

A day ago, Kejriwal sent a proposal yet again, on the training of government-run school teachers in Finland, to Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena. The Delhi government said that while returning the earlier proposal, LG Saxena asked them to first conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the training programme.

However, the Raj Niwas said at the time that the "LG has not rejected the proposal for the training programme for primary-in-charges in Finland. Any statement on the contrary is misleading and mischievously motivated".

(With inputs from PTI.)