To Delhi LG invite, Kejriwal says 'Thank you...some other time'

Delhi LG V K Saxena invited Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his ministers, and 10 AAP MLAs for a meeting at Raj Niwas at 4 pm on Friday, officials said on Thursday. Shortly afterward, Kejriwal's office revealed the CM's preoccupation and sought a different date.

New Delhi:Amid the ongoing tiff between the two, Delhi L-G V K Saxena Thursday invited Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his ministers and 10 AAP MLAs for a meeting at Raj Niwas on Friday. Kejriwal, however, asked Delhi L-G to postpone the meeting.

"Thank you, LG Sahab. I am going to Punjab tomorrow. We are requesting Hon'ble LG for some other time," read an official statement from the CM office shortly after he was asked to come to the meeting along with his Cabinet colleagues and any 10 MLAs of his Aam Aadmi Party at 4 pm on Friday. The two sides have been at loggerheads over multiple issues including a Delhi government proposal to send its teachers for training in Finland.

The invitation had come a day after a scene of bonhomie was witnessed as Kejriwal attended the 'at home' function ahead of Republic Day hosted by the LG at Raj Niwas on Tuesday. The two were seen warmly greeting each other during the function that was also attended by politicians from BJP and other parties.

On January 16, Kejriwal and his party MLAs had marched from the Vidhan Sabha to Raj Niwas to meet Saxena over the teachers' training proposal. The chief minister returned after waiting for nearly an hour, claiming the LG refused to meet him, his deputy Manish Sisodia and AAP MLAs. Saxena denied the charge in a letter he wrote to Kejriwal days later, saying the chief minister insisted on a meeting that would be attended by all his MLAs, and that it was not possible at a short notice.

Kejriwal, replying to the LG letter, had suggested a fresh proposal for A meeting between the two sides. However, AAP leaders had later claimed that Saxena refused to meet the Chief Minister and AAP MLAs.