‘Atishi will hoist flag on I-Day’: Delhi minister Gopal Rai issues directions to govt department

Delhi minister Gopal Rai on Monday directed the General Administration Department to make arrangements for the hoisting of national flag on Independence Day by his cabinet colleague Atishi, in what could emerge as a new flashpoint between the LG office and AAP dispensation. Rai issued the directions following a meeting with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in Tihar Jail.

Issuing the directions, Rai, who is also the Minister for General Administration, said, “I had a meeting with Chief Minister today. He desires that minister Atishi should hoist the flag on August 15, 2024, at the Chhatrasal Stadium event, in his place. All the necessary arrangements be made accordingly.”

In a letter to Lieutenant Governor (LG) V K Saxena last week, Kejriwal said cabinet minister Atishi would hoist the national flag during the Delhi government’s Independence Day programme in his place.

The LG office, however, maintained that they did not receive any communication from the chief minister. Also, the Tihar Jail authorities informed Kejriwal that his letter to Saxena saying Atishi would hoist the tricolour on Independence Day was “an abuse of privileges” granted to him under the Delhi Prison Rules. Kejriwal was informed that his letter to the LG was not sent to the addressee.

The superintendent of Tihar’s jail number 2 cited various provisions of the Delhi Prisons Rules, 2018, and advised Kejriwal in a letter “to desist from any such impermissible activity” or his privileges would be curtailed.

Every year, the Delhi government’s Independence Day function is held at Chhatrasal Stadium and the chief minister addresses the gathering. Kejriwal is lodged in Tihar Jail in a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case in connection with the alleged excise policy scam. He has been granted interim bail by the Supreme Court in the excise policy-linked money laundering case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).