Centre defends denial of permission to Kejriwal for Denmark visit; AAP says very lame excuse

The Centre on Wednesday defended its decision to deny permission to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to attend a climate summit in Denmark, saying it is meant for "mayor-level" participants, but an angry AAP termed it a "very lame excuse" and insult to the people of Delhi.

Kejriwal was to leave on Tuesday for the C-40 Climate Summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, but could not do so. The Ministry of External Affairs examined the request and "clearance from political angle" has been declined, Delhi government sources said.

But Union minister Prakash Javadekar said it was a "mayor-level conference" and a West Bengal minister is going to attend it.

Central government sources later said a separate protocol is followed for chief ministers and rejected suggestions that opposition parties were being targeted.

However, senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh said his party will raise the issue in assembly elections due early next year. His party colleague Raghav Chadha said Javadekar's comment on Kejriwal is "incorrect, ill-informed and misleading".

"Election is coming and the AAP will take this issue of not granting us permission to present our good work to the world to the people of Delhi. We will expose the ill-motive and mindset of the BJP," Singh, the Delhi Vidhan Sabha election in-charge of AAP, said.

The Rajya Sabha MP also said that Sheila Dikshit had participated in the climate summit as chief minister of Delhi. "It is a very lame excuse," he said on the protocol issue.

Meanwhile, the BJP took a swipe at Kejriwal, saying the country has been "saved from embarrassment by the cancellation of the visit".

Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari said in a statement, "The people of Delhi want to know whether he (Kejriwal) is a chief minister or the mayor."
But AAP's Singh asked, "Why the BJP is scared of the work done by the Kejriwal government. In the last few years, the Delhi government has done a remarkable job by improving the quality of education and health but the Centre does not want us to tell the world about these achievements."