Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today took on the AAP government over its escalating row with Lt Governor Najeeb Jung, saying people's "experiment" with the party is turning out to be "very costly".
Jaitley also said that governance is not in the political agenda of Delhi's ruling party.
The BJP leader said the Aam Admi Party(AAP) government should understand its responsibilities towards people of Delhi considering the "historic mandate" it had got in the assembly polls.
"The people of Delhi experimented with a new party in the elections, but it is a very costly experiment because governance is not their political agenda," Jaitley said.
He was speaking at Delhi BJP's Executive Committee meeting.
The AAP hit back at Jaitley and went personal, saying the country was suffering due to an experiment by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allocate Finance Ministry to the BJP leader.
Taking a jibe at Jaitley, senior AAP leader Ashutosh said the man who had lost badly in Amritsar should not bother about Delhi since they will never understand the city-state.
"The country is suffering from the experiment done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi by making him (Jaitley) the Finance Minister, who lost so badly in Amrtisar," Ashutosh said referring to the BJP leader's defeat in the Golden Temple city where he lost to Congress' Captain Amrinder Singh.
The AAP leader said that BJP has failed to understand Delhi and in coming years, it will disappear from the national capital.
Referring to various controversies surrounding the AAP government, particularly the tussle between Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Jung, Jaitley said people of Delhi want governance and the ruling dispensation must understand it.
"Whatever is happening in Delhi in last few months, it seems coming days may be be painful. The AAP government came following a huge mandate. They should understand their responsibilities. People want governance and not controversy. So they should understand their responsibilities and fulfil people's expectations," he said.
Jaitley said Delhi could have been turned into a global city as it has great opportunities for business and tourism.
The confrontation over appointment of Shakuntala Gamlin as acting chief secretary of Delhi had turned into a full-blown war between AAP and Jung with Kejriwal alleging that the LG was trying to take over the administration.
Despite Kejriwal's strong opposition, Jung had appointed her to the post on Friday.
The AAP government yesterday directed all its officials to apprise the Chief Minister or Minister concerned about any oral or written direction from the LG or his office before following them.
The LG has also hardened his stand maintaining that he was the main authority in dealing with transfers and postings of senior bureaucrats. The BJP has been severely critical of AAP government.
