Centre, Delhi govt face-off again over Kejriwal's Singapore visit

Avinash Prabhakar

New Delhi, July 29 (IANS) As Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is finally not going to attend the World Cities Summit at Singapore, a new war of words has erupted between the Centre and state.

The Delhi government has also issued a formal statement blaming the central government for this. The statement said that the formalities for the Singapore visit were to be completed by July 20, while the Lieutenant Governor returned the file on July 21.

"Only the Central Government can be held responsible for CM Arvind Kejriwal not being able to attend the World Cities Summit in Singapore and the subsequent humiliation the country has had to face. The file regarding clearance for Chief Minister's visit was sent to the LG on June 7 itself. The LG sat on the file for one and a half months and returned the file on July 21. By then not only had there been a lot of delay, but the deadline till July 20 to complete the travel formalities had also passed," the statement said.

However, as per the central government sources, the World Cities Summit invitation to Arvind Kejriwal was withdrawn by Singapore. The Centre claimed that an email revealed that the invitation was cancelled.

IANS has also assessed that email dated July 26 that said "With reference to our email dated on July 15 noting the acceptance deadline of 20 July, we regret to inform you that we could no longer accept further additions to the plenary". The email said "The invitation to the WCS, which is non-transferable, would also be allowed to lapse." IANS has a copy of that email.

The Delhi BJP blamed Kejriwal for making false allegations against the Centre and said that Kejriwal's dream of going to Singapore to make tall claims about his false and publicity-based education model has been shattered.

"Arvind Kejriwal was constantly doing gimmicks and pretending to go to Singapore and all his ministers, MLAs and leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party were doing the work of promoting this show. Now it has been busted. Even after the Singapore government withdrew Kejriwal's invitation, all AAP MLAs and ministers, including Manish Sisodia, were still busy blaming the central government for this", said Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta.

Gupta claimed that Kejriwal had sought permission from the Ministry of External Affairs for the Singapore visit, but now it has been revealed that the Singapore government itself had cancelled the invitation to Kejriwal on July 20 itself.

"Kejriwal did the work of deceiving the people of Delhi by making false statements in the name of Singapore and making false allegations against the Central Government because when he started feeling that he would be exposed for this fiasco, he blamed the Centre", Gupta said.

Speaking to the media on the sidelines of a programme at Tyagraj Stadium on Friday, Kejriwal said, "It would have been good if I could go and put forward my point and share with the world the work being done in India...I am not blaming anyone for it".