Kejriwal heads Punjab meeting in Delhi, opposition criticises on lack of Punjab CM

AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal conducted a meeting in Delhi to discuss power supply in Punjab. Opposition leaders have criticised AAP for conducting the meeting without the Punjab Chief Minister and the power minister.

AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal chaired a meeting on Tuesday with bureaucrats from Punjab to discuss the means to fulfill the first guarantee (providing 300 free units of electricity to the residents of Punjab). The opposition leaders who earlier guessed that the Punjab government would be remotely controlled from New Delhi are criticising AAP for conducting a meeting on Punjab’s affairs without Chief minister Bhagwant Mann.

The meeting presided by Arvind Kejriwal was attended by Punjab Chief Secretary Anirudh Tewari, Power Secretary Dalip Kumar, Chairman PSPCL Baldev Singh Saran, Rajya Sabha member Raghav Chadha and Delhi Health Minister Satyender Jain.

Punjab Congress Chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring sought clarification from Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and said, "Summoning Punjab bureaucrats to Delhi by Arvind Kejriwal has grossly set a wrong precedent. The governor is going to Gurdaspur district after visiting Fazilka recently. You (Bhagwant Mann) are going to meet Hon'ble President of India today. Please take up the issue of the governor touring the border districts to observe law and order issues. This is an exclusive state subject and it is you who should be touring the border districts."

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Amrinder Singh continued, "Worst was feared, worst happened. Arvind Kejriwal has taken over Punjab much before it was expected to happen. That Bhagwant Mann is a rubber stamp was a foregone conclusion already, now Kejriwal has proved it right by chairing Punjab officers' meeting in Delhi."

The opposition BJP has also called Bhagwant Mann a “rubber stamp Chief Minister.” The party's national general secretary Tarun Chugh criticised Arvind Kejriwal and said that he has converted Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann into a "rubber stamp".

"It was a grossly unconstitutional act of the Delhi chief minister which has exposed the fact that only Kejriwal would be a supremo in Punjab and Bhagwant Mann would be his "rubber stamp", Chugh said while adding that "it was not only an insult to the state government officials but also a disgraceful moment for Punjab itself that it would be run by another chief minister from Delhi".