Centre cancels appointment of 9 Delhi govt adivsors

Delhi's Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal cancelled the appointments of nine advisors, aides and consultants in the Delhi government Tuesday, including two who report to Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

  Baijal's order said these posts weren't in a list of posts approved for NCT government ministers, and were created without prior approval from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.

  But apart from Aatishi Marlena and Arunoday Prakash - Sisodia's advisors - and Amar Deep Tiwari, the media advisor to the Law Minister, everyone named in the order has already completed their tenure.

  What's more, all nine were appointed with the approval of Baijal's predecessor, Najeeb Jung.

     Raghav Chaddha, an advisor to Delhi's finance minister whose appointment was voided, completed his tenure in March 2016. He helped Sisodia prepare the Delhi Budget.

     "I already have completed my tenure," Chaddha told India Today. "(I) don't know how is he removing me now as I don't hold any post."

KEJRIWAL, SISODIA 'STUNNED'

      Sources in the Delhi government said Sisodia and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal were stunned by the decision. The L-G consulted neither them nor the General Administration Department minister, they explained.

        And sources in the Deputy Chief Minister's Office claim today's move aims to cripple the good work done by the Kejriwal administartion's department of education, a subject which has has been at the core of its priorities.