Singapore visit : Arvind Kejriwal is all dressed up but can’t go

Reacting to the denial of permission, Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said: “While inviting CM Kejriwal, the High Commissioner of Singapore Simon Wong had stated: ‘Your insights will enrich our discussion on how we can make our cities more sustainable and liveable.’ But the LG, after sitting on the file for one-and-half months, has now returned it advising Kejriwal not to attend the conference stating it is typically for mayors.”

Multiplicity of agencies

The L-G’s remarks stem from the fact that Delhi, a Union Territory with a legislative assembly, is governed by multiple agencies. While the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP is in power in the assembly, crucial functions such as police and public order come under the Union government. There is also a separate administrative setup for municipal agencies, which have been under BJP rule for most of the time lately.

“I differ with the advice of the Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor. We will go ahead with the visit and apply for political clearance from the central government,” Kejriwal said in a letter written in response to the L-G’s remarks.

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The Singapore summit, according to the official website, will bring business and thought leaders worldwide together in person as they share best practices and ideas for cities to emerge from prolonged and unpredictable disruptions. This year, the theme of the summit is “Liveable and Sustainable Cities: Emerging Stronger.” Among the participants in the list of attendees are mostly mayors, and ministers, governors and business leaders from different countries.

‘Mean politics’ at work

The denial of permission has triggered a fresh war of words between the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi and the office of the lieutenant governor.

"The LG has advised Kejriwal to not attend the conference since it is a conference of mayors. The chief ministers of other states have attended this conference in the past. Even the prime minister goes for state-related issues. This is mean politics at work… This is mean politics at work,” Sisodia said on July 21.

In 2018, the then chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, N Chandrababu Naidu had participated in the summit.

Sisodia said in the presser that the Delhi government would now approach the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) directly for political clearance. The MEA said after Sisodia’s presser that it has received a request for approval from the Delhi chief minister for his Singapore visit.

“The online portal for political clearance on our website has just received an entry … regarding the Delhi CM’s visit to Singapore to attend the ‘Eighth World Cities Summit and WCS Mayors Forum’. The decision will be taken following due process,” MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said on the sidelines of a press briefing on July 21

The process

Normally, chief ministers and state ministers need to write to Cabinet Secretariat and Minister of External Affairs before the proposed overseas visit.

“The Cabinet Secretariat and the Ministry of External Affairs should be kept informed of the proposed foreign visit, either official or private, of Chief Ministers and Ministers of State Governments/Union Territories. However, prior political clearance and FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act) clearance are mandatory,” reads a circular issued on May 6 2015.

The circular urged that the chief ministers should not write to the PMO for permission. “It is once again reiterated that instead of PMO, the Cabinet Secretariat and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) should be kept informed of the proposed foreign visit, either official or private, of chief ministers and Ministers in the State Governments/Union Territories,” reads the notification.

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But Kejriwal’s office had on June 7 sent the file to the LG office seeking permission for the chief minister’s Singapore visit. “We have always been seeking clearance from the L-G,” Sisodia said.

This is not the first time that Kejriwal has been denied permission to take part in a conference overseas. In October 2019, Kejriwal’s request for permission to visit Denmark to address a C-40 World Mayors’ Summit was turned down by the MEA, stating that his visit there as a speaker was not commensurate with the level of participation from other countries. Kejriwal then addressed the summit via video.

In 2021, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee was denied permission for a trip to Rome. The MEA had said that “the event is not commensurate in status for participation by a chief minister of a state”.

The ‘Delhi model’ of governance

The Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government has many a times used international fora to showcase what it calls the ‘Delhi model of governance.’ In April 2022, AAP lawmaker Atishi addressed the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at its headquarters in New York highlighting the ‘Delhi Model’ at a conference themed 'New Urban Agenda'.

Last week, Kejriwal wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing his displeasure over the Centre’s delay in providing him clearance to attend the Singapore summit to showcase the ‘Delhi Model’ to the world.

The AAP government said Kejriwal wanted to explain at the summit how a city as big as Delhi managed to improve its health and education system by offering ‘revolutionary’ schemes such as free transport for women as well as free water and power.