Sheila Dikshit targets Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government, says conflict with Centre can't be an excuse to not work

Former Delhi chief minister and senior Congress leader Sheila Dikshit has targeted Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi, saying conflict with Lieutenant Governor cannot be an “excuse” to not work.

Asserting that there had been no conflict between her government and Delhi Lieutenant Governor during her tenure as Chief Minister, Dikshit said, “Delhi is a Union territory, governed partly by Centre, we have to cooperate and work. In my 15 years in power, we never had any conflict with Centre or LG. This can't be an excuse to not work.”

The veteran Congress leader added that people of Delhi want “governance and not complaints”.

This comes ahead of a meeting of AAP office bearers and MLAs convened by Chief Minister Kejriwal at his residence on Sunday. The meeting has reportedly been called to discuss the issue of full statehood to Delhi. The AAP government has also called a special session of Delhi Assembly to discuss the issue.

Incidentally, Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel had on Saturday hosted an Iftar party. He did not invite Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal for the same, claiming that since he did not accept the invitation last year, he decided to not extend the invitation to him this Ramzan.

"I had invited him (L-G) to an Iftar party last year, but he did not attend it. He did not give any reason. This year, I decided not to invite him (Baijal)," the Delhi Assembly Speaker told PTI.

Meanwhile, Kejriwal has also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi Lt Governor Baijal over alleged searches conducted at the Delhi Jal Board office. He tweeted that he was willing to bring all files sought by the CBI and the anti-corruption bureau in public domain, demanding that the Prime Minister and the Lt Governor must explain the reason for seeking the files.

He tweeted, “I will put out in public domain list of all files sought by PM’s CBI n LG’s ACB. PM n LG shud explain reasons for seeking those files. Else they shud apologise to Delhiites for this witch hunting exercise.”

(With PTI Inputs)