Kejriwal 'Denied Political Clearance' To Attend Climate Meet In Denmark, AAP Questions Centre

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will not attend the C-40 Climate Summit in Denmark as the Ministry of External Affairs denied political clearance to him, said official sources on Tuesday. The Delhi government sources said the chief minister was scheduled to leave for the summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, at 2 pm on Tuesday. Kejriwal was to lead an eight-member delegation for the summit.

The MEA, however, gave clearance to West Bengal Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim, claimed sources.

"The chief minister could not fly out of Delhi on Tuesday afternoon as the MEA did not give political clearance to him for his Denmark visit," they said.

Hitting out at the Centre, AAP leader Sanjay Singh said Kejriwal was not going a "vacation" and it is "unfortunate" that he will not be able to attend the C40 Climate summit in Denmark.

Terming it as "unfortunate", Singh said this will "affect India's image on the global stage and send a wrong message in the international community".

"Kejriwal was not going on a vacation but to tell the world how Delhi managed to reduce pollution by over 25 per cent through its schemes like odd-even," Singh told reporters.

Delhi government sources said the chief minister was scheduled to leave for the summit at Copenhagen in Denmark at 2 pm on Tuesday.

The chief minister could not fly out of Delhi on Tuesday afternoon as the MEA did not give political clearance to him for his Denmark visit, they said. The summit is scheduled to begin on October 9 and conclude on October 12.

"What will the people think about how our federal structure works. Why is there so much anger against us from the Centre?" the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP said.

The MEA, however, gave clearance to West Bengal Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim, Singh said, noting that he applied just a week before while Kejriwal had asked for clearance over a month back.

At the summit, Kejriwal was scheduled to speak on the AAP government's experience in lowering pollution level in Delhi and other related issues.

In response to a media query on this issue last week, the MEA had said a decision on the issue is taken based on multiple inputs.

MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar had said, "Some of the inputs we get from the mission and it takes into account the nature of the event where the person is going to participate. It takes into account the level of participation from other countries and also the kind of invitation that is extended."

(With PTI inputs)