A 13-bullet letter was accessed by Republic after Delhi’s Lieutenant General VK Saxena took exception to the absence of Arvind Kejriwal and his Cabinet at the functions commemorating the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri at Raj Ghat and Vijay Ghat on Sunday, October 2.
By not showing up at Raj Ghat or Vijay Ghat when President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and a host of other dignitaries paid homage to Bapu and Shastri, Saxena drew Kejriwal’s attention to the ‘utter disregard’ displayed by him and his cabinet. “But he did not consider the occasion fit enough for him to stay longer,” said Saxena after noticing Kejriwal’s deputy, Manish Sisodia being “perfunctorily present for a few minutes.”
A letter from the Delhi LG to the CM
As Saxena noted in the letter, the Government of the Nation Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) is responsible for organising the event at Vijay Ghat, the samadhi of Shastri, and invitation cards are issued in Kejriwal’s name in this case. It was noted that the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister, and Minister-in-charge of the General Administration Department were kept informed of the appointment of the President and Vice President.
According to Saxena, during the invitation process, the President’s Secretariat informed Kejriwal through his Additional Secretary that he had to attend the programme in order to receive Droupadi Murmu. “This is not only highly improper, but it prima facie amounts to deliberate breech of protocol indicative of insult to the Hon’ble President of India- the highest constitutional authority of the Republic,” Saxena stated, reiterating how Kejriwal was absent and Sisodia, who attended, left the venue before she arrived.”