Will Lakshadweep administrator Praful Patel be made next Delhi LG: Kejriwal

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal posted a cryptic tweet on Saturday, asking if Lakshadweep Administrator Praful K Patel is being made the next Lieutenant Governor of Delhi.

Anil Baijal is the current Lieutenant Governor of Delhi.

"Is Mr Praful Patel, Administrator of Lakshdweep, being made the next LG of Delhi?" Kejriwal tweeted.

Baijal, a 1969-batch UT cadre officer, was appointed the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi in December 2016.

Unlike its recurring fight with previous LG Najeeb Jung, the AAP govt has been at loggerheads with the Baijal administration only on a few occasions.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Kejriwal government and the LG office were generally on the same page.

However, there have been some instances when the AAP government and the LG office were at loggerheads.

In June 2018, Kejriwal along with his Cabinet ministers Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain and Gopal Rai had sat on a protest in LG office against a strike by IAS officers and non-approval of the Doorstep Delivery of Ration Scheme by Baijal.

Similarly, in July last year there was a flashpoint between the AAP government and the LG when the later overturned the Delhi Cabinet's decision to appoint a panel of lawyers of its choice to argue cases related to the farmers' agitation.

The AAP government had then reacted sharply with Deputy CM Manish Sisodia saying, “What was the need of an elected dispensation if everything has to be done through the Centre via LG.” Patel, who served as the home minister of Gujarat when Narendra Modi was the chief minister, took charge as Lakshadweep administrator in December 2020.

There had been protests by political parties and activists against Patel for his reforms measures on the union territory.

In May 2021, the Kerala Assembly had passed a resolution demanding recall of island administrator Patel and requested the Centre to intervene to protect the lives and livelihood of the islanders.