Congress against Centre's notification on LG' powers

The Congress party on Monday said it did not support the notification of the union home ministry regarding powers of the Lt. Governor of Delhi but at the same time the party distanced itself from Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's "antics".

At a press conference here, senior Congress leader and former home minister P. Chidambaram said Article 239 of the constitution accords a special status to Delhi.

Chidambaram said that though he had not studied the matter from the point of view of "Kejriwal and his antics, but I still believe that the elected chief minister of a union territory must have a significant say in the selection of his officers...

"... and if the lt. governor has been given absolute powers in the matter without any role for the chief minister, I think, it is retrograde and undemocratic.

"I do not support the notification but at the same time have no sympathy for a chief minister who is inviting all the troubles upon himself," he added.

Asked why Delhi was not given statehood during the UPA tenure, Chidambaram said though there was a demand at that point of time "we had given them substantial powers and we did not interfere in their administration".

"But we did not give full statehood because that had implications. There was no consensus in the country for giving full statehood."

The former union minister, however, said: "Not giving full statehood is one thing but giving the LG power to choose the officials of the chief minister is another."

In a notification issued on May 21, the central government made it clear that Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung will have the last word in deciding transfers and postings of bureaucrats in Delhi.

The notification has brought things to a head with the Centre and the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government being in direct confrontation.