AAP government appoints new principal secretary for services; L-G rejects

NEW DELHI: The AAP government today appointed Chief Minister's Secretary Rajendra Kumar as Principal Secretary of Services Department which was promptly rejected by Lt Governor Najeeb Jung.

Kumar's appointment by the AAP dispensation came hours after the Kejriwal-led government locked the office of Principal Secretary (Services) Anindo Majumdar who had issued an order notifying the appointment of Shakuntala Gamlin as the acting chief secretary.

Reacting to the appointment, Jung shot off a letter to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, declaring Kumar's appointment in place of Majumdar "void", noting that it did not have his approval.

When Majumdar reached his office this morning, he found that it had been locked as per the directive from Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's office.

Majumdar was removed from the post by Kejriwal on Saturday after he issued the appointment letter to Gamlin, following instructions from Jung. The LG, on the same evening, had declared the order to transfer Majumdar "void", saying it did not have his approval.

In his letter to Kejriwal, Jung said, he rejected Kumar's appointment as it is against the laid down rules and procedure.

Yesterday, Kejriwal had accused Gamlin of trying to favour two Reliance Infra-owned discoms through a Rs 11,000-crore loan and claimed the Modi government wants AAP dispensation to "fail".

The confrontation over appointment of Gamlin as acting Chief Secretary had turned into a full-blown war between the ruling AAP and Jung last week with Kejriwal alleging that the LG was trying to take over the administration.

Despite Kejriwal's strong opposition, Jung had appointed her to the post on Friday. On Saturday, the chief minister had asked her not to take charge of the post but she ignored his directive and followed the LG's order.