In a surprise development, Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung resigned from his post on Thursday.
Jung has submitted his resignation to the Government of India, a statement from the Raj Niwas said.
He still has 18 months to go in his tenure.
According to Raj Niwas sources, Jung quit because of personal reasons. Sources said he had been contemplating quitting the post for some time now. Jung, who was vice chancellor of the Jamia Milia Islamia before he was appointed Lt Governor of Delhi, wants to return to academics, they said.
In a brief statement as he bowed out of Raj Niwas, Jung thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his “help and cooperation”. He also thanked the people of Delhi for their support and affection, especially during the one year long President's rule in the capital. He mentioned getting unstinted support from them, which in turn helped him run the administration smoothly and effortlessly.
Jung also thanked Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal for his association in the last two years. The two had been locked in a tussle over who calls the shots in Delhi ever since the Aam Aadmi Party government came to power in the capital in February 2015.
The statement said Jung would be returning to his first love, which is academics.
Jung, who is a former IAS officer from the Madhya Pradesh cadre and has been active in academics, took over as the 20th Lt Governor of Delhi on July 9, 2013. He was appointed by the UPA government when Congress was in power in Delhi. At that time, it was widely believed that his good equations with the then Chief Minister of Delhi, Sheila Dikshit, had played a major role in his appointment.
Jung was involved in an intense turf war with Kejriwal, with the AAP government accusing him of interfering in the functioning of Delhi government, including appointment of officers in the city government, and not allowing it to work normally.
The AAP government even went to court to question Jung's authority. Delhi High Court in fact ruled in favour of Jung, saying the LG has the final word in the affairs of Delhi. Following the high court order, the LG had set up a panel to scrutinise all decisions taken by the Delhi government in the intervening period and find out if they were taken without the LG's approval and hence were illegal.
The matter is now being heard by the Supreme Court.
While there are speculations that protracted confrontation between the LG and Kejriwal is the reason for Jung's decision to go, it is also being discussed whether the move had anything to do with the likelihood of him being given a leg-up by the Modi government. There has been speculation that he could be considered for the post of vice president, with Hamid Ansari's term coming to an end in 2017.
Kejriwal had, earlier this month, attacked Jung over the appointment of IAS officer Dilraj Kaur as member secretary of the Delhi Commission for Women, saying he was trying to please the Modi government as he harbours ambitions of becoming the vice president.
“In order to become the Vice President, Jung has sold his soul to Modi. Jung may do what he likes, but Modi will never make a Muslim the Vice President,” he tweeted
Meanwhile, names of former Delhi police chief B.S. Bassi and former Home Secretary Anil Baijal are already doing the rounds as possible appointments to the now vacant post of Lt Governor of Delhi.
