Arvind Kejriwal does a U-turn on allegations that Centre scuttled his Singapore visit

New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal does a U-turn on allegations that the Centre scuttled his Singapore visit after it has now come to fore that his invitation was cancelled by Singapore government. The Delhi chief minister today said that he wanted to attend a summit in Singapore and share with the world the work being done in India.

"It would have been good if I could go and put forward my point and share with the world the work being done in India...I am not blaming anyone for it," Kejriwal said.

The Delhi government on Thursday blamed the Central government for Kejriwal not being able to attend the 'World Cities' Summit in Singapore.

Kejriwal's invitation was cancelled by the Singapore government as he missed the 20 July deadline of acceptance.

"The World Cities Summit invitation to Arvind Kejriwal was withdrawn by Singapore. An email reveals that the invitation was cancelled," sources said.

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They further informed that the AAP leader wrote to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) for approval of Singapore visit on 21 July, a day after the deadline expired "clearly indicating that it was a stunt".

"Therefore, Kejriwal's entire appeal to PM and L-G for permission to travel to Singapore was nothing more than a political stunt in his usual style of all drama and no substance," BJP sources said.

MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, on Thursday, also said that the ministry had received a request for the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s political clearance on 21 July.

Earlier this month, Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena had rejected the AAP government’s request for Kejriwal's Singapore travel and said that his attendance at the mayors’ conference will set a "bad precedent".

The L-G reportedly advised the Delhi CM not to attend the summit in Singapore since it is a conference of mayors and "won’t be befitting for a chief minister to attend it". Kejriwal had then written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking permission to attend the summit.

A report by The Indian Express said that the Delhi government had sent a file for clearance to attend the event to L-G on 7 June. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, on 21 July, said that the L-G had returned Kejriwal’s proposal for the visit and that the government had then decided to seek political clearance from the Ministry of External Affairs.

The summit, a conference for mayors, is scheduled for 2 to 3 August and High Commissioner of Singapore Simon Wong had extended an invitation to Kejriwal in June this year.

With inputs from agencies

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