The issue of flag hoisting on Independence Day has become a fresh point of friction between the Arvind Kejriwal government and the Delhi LG in the Union Territory. This comes after Chief Minister Kejriwal wrote to the LG VK Saxena informing that Atishi would hoist the Tricolour on August 15. However, after the objection raised by the Tihar Jail, Delhi’s GAD (General Administration Department) Minister Gopal Rai met the CM and wrote to the Additional Chief Secretary instructing to prepare for the auspicious day.
“It is the wish of CM Arvind Kejriwal that Minister Atishi should hoist the flag this time on August 15th. Preparations should be made accordingly,” Rai wrote.
Every year in Delhi, the Chief Minister hoists the flag on August 15. However, due to his arrest in the alleged liquor scam, Kejriwal is currently lodged in Tihar Jail.
Earlier, the Aam Aadmi Party had said that the CM had written a letter to the LG, requesting that Atishi be allowed to hoist the flag this time on August 15th.
When Tihar Jail clarified that the CM cannot write such a letter to the LG, Gopal Rai was brought into the picture. Rai met Arvind Kejriwal in Tihar Jail and wrote a letter to the secretary of his department, instructing that arrangements be made for Atishi to hoist the flag.
Later in the day, following a meeting with Kejriwal in Tihar jail, Gopal Rai -- who holds the general administration department portfolio -- directed officials to make arrangements for the flag hoisting by Atishi, in what could emerge as a new flashpoint between the lieutenant governor's office and the AAP dispensation.
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