Aam Aadmi Party ministers Satyendar Jain and Kapil Mishra on Saturday went to meet Lt Governor Najeeb Jung at his office following his fax to Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia to return from Finland, but the meeting did not materialise as Jung was not in his office, triggering a fresh spat between the two sides.
“It appears he is not in a mood to work today,” Mishra said taking a jibe at Jung.
But the LG office retorted that it was operational on all seven days of the week and the ministers did not seek prior appointment even as it accused the AAP government of politicising the issue when the city was grappling with a health crisis.
Jung on Friday asked Sisodia to return to Delhi immediately from Finland, where he was on a study tour, in view of sudden spurt in Dengue and Chikungunya cases in the national capital.
The ministers waited outside the LG office and said that no appointment was sought to meet the Lt Governor since he had sent an ‘urgent’ fax to the Deputy Chief Minister and they thought that Jung must have something important to talk about.
“The LG has sent an urgent fax to Deputy CM Sisodia so we thought there may be some emergency and we both came to meet him but he is not in the office. We were told that it’s off today and he does not sit in the office. We called him but he is also not at his home. It appears he is not in a mood to work today,” Mishra said.
Hitting back, the LG office said that the Lt Governor came to know of their visit only through media.
‘Secretary to the Lt Governor met the ministers since the Lt Governor’s office is operational on all days of the week. However, they neither submitted any letter nor gave any representation to the Lt Governor,’ the LG office said in a statement.
Mishra, however, said that since Delhi is grappling with dengue and chikungunya they did not wait for an appointment to meet Jung.
“We thought perhaps Jung Saheb has found some very good idea to fight the diseases that he wanted to share with Sisodia. So we came running to meet him as we are working on Saturday and Sunday also,” he said.
The Lt Governor’s office said that it is ‘regrettable’ that at a time when Delhi is facing such a serious public health crisis, the elected government is choosing to ‘politicise’ the issue instead of providing succour to the public.
‘The Lt Governor’s office is keeping a close watch on the health situation in Delhi and is getting regular updates on the situation from the Chief Secretary and Secretary (Health),’ the LG office said.
Jain said that he talked to Jung over phone but he was not available for meeting.
“I called on his number but he is not available. When I asked him about his fax to Sisodia, he said he did not want to talk about it,” Jain said.
‘Went to LG office. Asked on phone if anything urgent as he faxed yty to recall deputy CM. Ans: nothing urgent to discuss, no time today (sic),’ Jain tweeted.
Sisodia, who also hold the education portfolio, is in Finland along with his officers, is in Finland to study the education system of that country.
Refuting the allegation of the Opposition that he is ‘holidaying’ in Finland, Sisodia on Friday said it was not a ‘sin’ to study the schooling system of other countries to fix the problems in Delhi’s education system.
AAP leader Ashutosh claimed that Jain and Mishra were told Jung does not meet anyone on the weekends.
“This shows how sensitive Jung is about the matter.” He said.
AAP spokesperson Deepak Bajpai also hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party saying it does not want to cooperate at a time when AAP has undertaken ‘One Delhi’ campaign to fight the vector-borne diseases.
Meanwhile, the number of fatalities due to chikungunya complications has risen to 15 in the national capital as two more deaths were reported on Saturday from a hospital in the city.
“Two elderly persons, both aged above 70 and belonging to Delhi, died on September 15 of chikungunya complications at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. One of them suffered from hypertension while the other had kidney problems,” a hospital source said.
The number of deaths from chikungunya complications at SGRH has climbed to seven, the highest at any hospital in the city.
Out of the 15 deaths, Apollo Hospital has reported five, while AIIMS, Hindu Rao Hospital and PSRI recorded one death each.
Image for representation only.
