'CM resorting to diversionary tactics, false accusations out of desperation'

New Delhi: Accused of corruption by the ruling AAP, Delhi L-G V K Saxena on Thursday hit back hard at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal charging him with resorting to "diversionary tactics and false accusations" out of "desperation", a development which is likely to snowball into a full-blown political slugfest.

The L-G wrote in a note on Twitter that the AAP government has made "baseless personal attacks" on him and his family and that he won't be surprised if many more such attacks will be made in the coming days. He added that he "will under no circumstances whatsoever be deterred from my constitutional duties."

He has flagged several issues such as the anomalies with the Excise Policy, delay of 2.5 years in acting on CVC report on two irregularities in construction of classrooms in Delhi government schools, files not being signed by CM, CAG audits not being conducted timely in state universities and cabinet notes reaching me after cabinet meetings, etc. He wrote "I had expected Shri Arvind Kejriwal ji to address these in the right spirit."

The L-G secretariat also responded to the allegations by AAP MLA Sanjay Singh on twitter, stating that Saxena in his capacity as the Chairman of KVIC had given his daughter the design contract for Khadi Lounge without a tender. The L-G secretariat responded to these allegations by explaining that the work was done on a 'pro-bono basis', was free of cost and saved money for KVIC.

The L-G also wrote: "As a public representative, Hon'ble CM needs to explain to the people 'his art' of converting Rs 17 lakh, ascertained by CBI as demonetised currency exchanged by two employees of Khadi Bhawan Delhi, into Rs 1,400 crore as claimed by AAP."

While AAP has not responded to these tweets directly, they have notified that CM Kejriwal will not be attending the weekly meeting with LG due to his two day visit to Gujarat.