'LG not our headmaster', Arvind Kejriwal targets VK Saxena

New Delhi: LG VK Saxena should not "behave like a headmaster" checking students' homework, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Monday as AAP MLAs led by him marched to the lieutenant governor's office here against alleged interferences in the elected government's functioning.

The remark came on a day the ruling party MLAs staged the march from the Delhi assembly, claiming that the city government's proposal to send school teachers to Finland for training was rejected by Saxena, a charge refuted by the LG's office.

Delhi will not tolerate "dictatorship", Kejriwal further said in the latest flashpoint between the Lt Governor's office and his government.

The chief minister later also claimed that his government would send the teachers for the training at any cost.

The first day of the Delhi Assembly session was adjourned for the entire day as AAP MLAs repeatedly entered the Well of the House, raising slogans against the LG.

Holding placards saying "LG sahab, let teachers go to Finland" in Hindi and raising slogans against Saxena, Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia and AAP legislators reached near the Lt Governor Secretariat to meet with him after the house was adjourned.

They walked around three kilometres from the Delhi Assembly towards the LG Secretariat but were stopped by the police a few metres away from the Raj Niwas.

For nearly an hour, Kejriwal, Sisodia and the MLAs stood on the road, demanding a meeting with the lieutenant governor.

The LG's office asked Kejriwal and Sisodia to meet with Saxena, but the chief minister turned down the offer, saying all AAP MLAs should be allowed to attend as well.

"It is unfortunate that the LG has denied meeting the chief minister, deputy chief minister, ministers and the MLAs. We are very small people, but we represent two crore people of Delhi. In a way, the LG has dishonoured the people of Delhi," Kejriwal told reporters.

The opposition BJP said the behaviour of Kejriwal and his MLAs was one of "ultimate anarchists".

"The behaviour of Kejriwal and his MLAs inside the assembly and outside the LG's office clearly shows they are ultimate anarchists with no respect for the constitutional post or a democratic body like the assembly House," Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said.

Later in a statement, the LG's office said that the proposal for sending teachers to Finland for training has not been rejected, rather it has advised the government to evaluate it in totality.

Kejriwal, however, claimed that the proposal was rejected twice by the LG, and said Saxena should not behave like a headmaster.

"We are not children nor is he (LG) our headmaster to check our homework, who has to say yes or no to our proposal. He should not behave like a headmaster.

"The LG has rejected the Delhi government's proposal twice. If he says that the proposal was not rejected, then he should give it in writing," the chief minister said while waiting on the read near the Raj Niwas.

Kejriwal asserted that the people of Delhi would not tolerate dictatorship. The national capital will run through democracy and the LG will have to obey the Constitution and the orders of the Supreme Court, he added.

Kejriwal said that on July 4, 2018, the Supreme Court had ruled that the lieutenant governor of Delhi did not have the power to make decisions on his own and yet, he was preventing teachers from going to Finland for training purposes.

The LG's actions suggest that he does not respect the Supreme Court's ruling, he alleged. "This attitude is detrimental to the principles of democracy and the Constitution. It is disheartening that the chief minister, along with the MLAs of Delhi, had to march to the LG's house to advocate for something as simple as sending teachers for training," Kejriwal claimed.

"The two crore people of Delhi elected their chief minister and gave him a majority with 62 seats in the assembly. If he is unable to send teachers for training, it calls into question the purpose of such elections and the democratic processes. I hope and pray that the LG will acknowledge his mistake and permit the teachers to go for the training," he said.

The chief minister further alleged that by "shutting down" Delhi, the BJP wanted to show that he was unable to run the city government.

"They are harassing the people of Delhi by trying to defame me," Kejriwal added.

It is necessary that the power rests with the elected government of Delhi and not the LG, the chief minister said, claiming that several works of the government like payments of different departments and projects like Mohalla Clinics were withheld by Saxena.

"Earlier, there used to be a Viceroy sent by the British who ran the government. People fought for Independence, democracy and an elected government. It is not good for democracy if the elected government lacks power and one person assuming all the power thinks he can do anything," Kejriwal said.

The chief minister asserted that his government will send teachers for the training at any cost, and cited a dharna staged by him and his ministers at the Raj Niwas for former LG Anil Baijal's signature on files related to the installation of CCTV cameras in the city.

More than 1,000 teachers and principals have been trained abroad so far by the Delhi government. Thirty teachers were to be sent to Finland for training, but the LG denied it and said that they could be trained in India, Kejriwal added.

"This is absolutely wrong. What is the problem with the LG. It is the elected government of Delhi, people of Delhi and taxpayers' money. Who is he to stop training of teachers," the chief minister questioned.