Delhi L-G Najeeb Jung resigns
EARLY EXIT Decides to return to academia three-and-a-half years into his tenure; thanks Modi, Delhi’s people and Kejriwal
NEW DELHI: Najeeb Jung resigned as Delhi’s lieutenant governor on Thursday, ending a threeand-half-year tenure marked by a bitter jurisdictional battle for the Capital with chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.
In a brief statement, Jung’s office said he had submitted his resignation to the government of India and would be returning to academics — “his first love”.
Without citing any reason for the decision, Jung thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “his help and cooperation” and Kejriwal for “his association”. He also thanked the people of Delhi for “all their support and affection”.
The 65-year-old was locked in several public spats with the government after the Aam Aadmi Party returned to power last year. Jung and Kejriwal had showdowns over control of police, bureaucracy and clearance of files.
Sources in the ministry of home affairs (MHA) told HT that Jung got the resignation handdelivered in a sealed envelope directly to the prime minister’s office (PMO) instead of the MHA to which the L-G reports. Sources said Jung also had two phone conversations with the PMO on Wednesday.
A home ministry source told HT that Jung was tired of the prolonged feud with the Delhi government. Another government source said the L-G was finding it “increasingly difficult” to live up to the NDA administration’s “expectations” in Delhi, where the BJP suffered a drubbing in the 2015 elections.
Minutes after news of the decision broke, Kejriwal tweeted: “Jung’s resignation is a surprise to me. My best wishes in all his future endeavours”. His deputy, Manish Sisodia, said that despite several “bittersweet experiences, I can say that we have worked very well for Delhi with Jung” and wished Jung the best for the future.
The resignation triggered intense speculation about Jung’s successor with former Union home secretary Anil Baijal — who retired in 2006 as civil aviation secretary — tipped as the frontrunner.
Another name doing the rounds was BS Bassi, a former Delhi police commissioner who was locked in a bitter feud with Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party government until he retired this January.
Jung is a 1973-batch IAS officer who served in the Madhya Pradesh government and at several key posts at the Centre, including as joint secretary in the ministry of petroleum and natural gas. He was vice-chancellor of Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia University before he took charge as L-G in July, 2013.
Leader of opposition in the Delhi assembly and BJP leader Vijender Gupta described Jung as “a man who championed the Constitution of India, Union and Delhi government rules, despite heavy odds.” The Congress, however, sought an explanation from the Centre, alleging that Jung was “unceremoniously removed”.
NEW DELHI:Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung’s resignation on Thursday might have come as a surprise to many but official sources said that it was “in the offing”.
Jung’s fate had been sealed a couple of weeks back and the government was already looking for his successor. “It was mutually agreed,” said sources.
A home ministry official attributed Jung’s decision to hang his boots to “war weariness”. He was tired of the endless feud with the Aam Admi Party (AAP) government and couldn’t take it anymore, he said. Another source in the government confirmed, saying that the L-G was finding it “increasingly difficult” to live up to the NDA government’s “expectations”in the national capital where the BJP lost to the Aam Aadmi Party in 2015 assembly elections.
His tumultuous tenure was marked by a continuous standoff with the AAP government over jurisdictional issues, be it the transfer of bureaucrats or rolling out of schemes and projects. The Supreme Court is now seized with the matter.
Jung, said sources, intimated his desire to quit to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi some time back. Modi, sources said, had a dinner meeting with Home Minister Rajnath Singh in the evening, where the matter was discussed. The NDA government was also inclined to bring a new face to change the perception about the Centre’s nominee not allowing an elected government to work.
“Jung was not wrong but he should have handled the AAP government better,” said a senior BJP functionary. Home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi said on Thursday evening that the L-G had met him on Tuesday but gave no inkling of his intention to resign. “I met him on Tuesday to discuss few issues of Delhi and he was supposed to come to meet me on Friday as all issues could not be discussed. During Tuesday’s meeting, the LG didn’t give any clue about his intention to resign,” he said.