Anil Baijal is new Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, President Pranab Mukherjee approves his appointment

Career bureaucrat Anil Baijal is set to become the next Lt Governor of Delhi, a post which had fallen vacant after sudden resignation of Najeeb Jung. President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday approved Baijal’s appointment, hours after his name was proposed for the post and his papers were sent to the former.

A 1969 batch IAS officer, Baijal had served as Union Home Secretary under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government besides holding key positions in other ministries.

70-year-old Baijal had retired from service in 2006 as Secretary, Urban Development Ministry. He is a former vice chairman of Delhi Development Authority.Baijal was actively associated with the designing and roll-out of Rs 60,000 crore Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) launched by the Manmohan Singh government.

Read | Anil Baijal, who served as home secretary in Vajpayee govt, selected as Delhi's new Lieutenant Governor

The former bureaucrat was also on the executive council of the think-tank Vivekananda International Foundation, several of whose former members have been appointed to senior positions by the Modi government including National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

Jung had submitted his resignation on December 22, ending a nearly three-and-half-year-long eventful tenure, mostly marked by bitter confrontation with AAP government.

Read | Najeeb Jung resigns as Delhi Lieutenant Governor; will return to his ‘first love academics’

Meanwhile, the government today recommended to the President, who on his annual winter sojourn at Rashtrapathi Nilayam in Secunderabad, acceptance of Jung’s resignation. 

(With inputs from PTI)