NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal today met Lieutenant Governor
Najeeb Jung, who unexpectedly tendered his
resignation yesterday. When asked about the meeting, he simply said he'd been 'invited for breakfast.'
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Kejriwal met Jung at his residence, Raj Niwas, a day after he expressed surprise at the Lt Governor's decision, and wished him well.
He reached Raj Niwas around 8 AM and the meeting lasted for nearly an hour.
Kejriwal said after the meeting that the Lt Governor's reasons for quitting were " personal."
Yesterday, Jung's office said "he would be returning to academics".
Sources close to him said his resignation has nothing to do with his acrimonious relationship with the Delhi government over matters of jurisdiction and he had been thinking about quitting for the last few months.
Manish Sisodia, Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister, also met Jung today.
He said Jung told him that he has wanted to resign for a while to spend more time with his family and focus on academics, but couldn't because of issues like the recent chikungunya crisis.
On who could be the next Lt Governor of Delhi, Sisodia said many names are doing the rounds, but nothing official has come up.
"We will work for the people of Delhi irrespective of the circumstances," he added.
Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party government and Jung have been involved in a
tussle over administrative primacy in the national capital since the party was voted to power in 2015.
Delhi doesn't have full statehood. Since it's the the capital, the Union Home Ministry has jurisdiction over some areas, such as land and police, and it's the Lieutenant Governor who's in charge of administration.
The Lt Governor has reversed measures implemented by the Delhi government on grounds that it didn't have the authority to do so. Kejriwal has long alleged that the Centre, through Jung, has been preventing his government from doing any work.
He and his ministers have repeatedly pointed out the spheres of government under which his regime has little or no control.
Inputs from PTI