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Soni Mishra
Soni Mishra

Delhi

Tension between AAP govt, Lt Governor Anil Baijal ends

PTI10_31_2016_000132B (File photo) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal

The tension between the AAP-run Delhi government and Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal was defused on Thursday after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, along with his cabinet, met Baijal, with the latter giving the assurance that the file pertaining to the setting up of Mohalla clinics will be cleared by Tuesday.

The meeting took place a day after over 45 MLAs, who had gone to meet the governor to make an appeal for an early clearance of the file regarding Mohalla clinics, virtually laid seige to Raj Nivas after they were dissatisfied with the brief interaction that they had with Baijal.

The AAP government had alleged that the governor's office was delaying clearance to the Mohalla clinic file and had forwarded it to the Vigilance Department over “frivolous complaints” made by Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken. The governor's office had, in turn, said the file was not with Baijal, but was sent to the Delhi government for responses on the complaints.

After Thursday's meeting with Baijal, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said, “It was a very good meeting. We have sent the file back to the LG after processing them. He said he will clear the file by Monday or Tuesday. If he needs any clarifications, he will call us.”

Sisodia said the file came to the Delhi government last evening. “We sent the file back to him today. The LG said we will all together build Mohalla clinics,” he said.

Wednesday's clash between the Delhi government and the governor's office was the first such confrontation between them. Baijal has had a fairly smooth working relationship with the Kejriwal government. Also, the Delhi chief minister had toned down considerably after his party's electoral debacles.

Kejriwal, who was quite prolific on Twitter, was posting messages on the micro-blogging site only sparingly of late. However, on Wednesday, as his MLAs decided to stay put at Raj Nivas till Baijal offered them an assurance on Mohalla clinics, Kejriwal tweeted at a furious pace. He tweeted that he offered to the LG on phone that he could come with officers and ministers to discuss the issue with him. In response, the governor's office said the chief minister had skipped their meeting at 5 pm on Wednesday.

The AAP government had set a target of building 1,000 Mohalla clinics in Delhi by the end of March 2017. However, so far, it has been able to build only 158 such clinics, and it has blamed lack of cooperation from the governor's office for the delay in building the clinics.

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