Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal has resigned citing personal reasons, a senior official said on Wednesday. He was appointed the national capital's LG in December, 2016.
"He (Baijal) has submitted his resignation to the president," the official told PTI. Mr Baijal, a retired civil servant had taken over as Lieutenant Governor in December 2016 following the abrupt resignation of his predecessor Najeeb Jung.
The role of Lieutenant Governor had been at the heart of an all-out power tussle between Delhi's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government and the BJP, which rules at the centre, for years until a landmark Supreme Court judgement in 2018 that spelled out their powers more clearly.
Lieutenant Governor does not have independent decision-making powers and the real power must lie with the elected government, the Supreme Court had ruled in a big win for Mr Kejriwal in the years-long fight for control of Delhi.
Baijal is a 1969 batch AGMUT cadre, short for Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory, IAS officer. He has served in Delhi as a former vice-chairman of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA).
Baijal was appointed the home secretary in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. He was transferred to the urban development ministry by the Congress-led UPA government where he oversaw the planning and implementation of the ₹60,000 crore Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission as per the reports by Hindustan Times.
Baijal also had stints as the chairman and managing director of Indian Airlines, chief executive officer of Prasar Bharati Corporation, development commissioner of Goa and counsellor in charge of India’s aid programme in Nepal.
(with inputs from PTI)
