New Delhi: Barely 10 weeks into the office of the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Vinay Kumar Saxena has set an unlikely target to force Arvind Kejriwal’s government into the biggest U-turn ever – rollback About its much-hyped new liquor policy in Delhi. He did so not by using LG’s veto powers, but with the threat of a CBI probe,
He has shown the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) born out of a movement against corruption why he should have researched it more closely than his track record.
Till joining politics like Kejriwal, Saxena was a full-time worker who was not associated with any political party, not even BJP or RSS. From Medha Patkar and Teesta Setalvad Madame Tussauds museum In London, he always loved to fight hard – and mostly won.
As the head of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), he landed in a Conflict In 2017 when the government body replaced Mahatma Gandhi’s picture with that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in its annual calendar and diary. Saxena defended the move, calling Modi “the biggest brand ambassador of Khadi” at the time.
Saxena has been particularly vocal in the last two years his support Modi has been critical of the government’s policies such as the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, and the PM’s political opponents such as Rahul Gandhi,
In a tweet from the KVIC president’s Twitter handle, Rahul was called a “foreigner” from the “grassroots of India” for wearing a US Polo brand shirt during the Parliament session.
From a corporate executive with a major cement manufacturer in the country to becoming the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Saxena has had an unusual career graph in comparison to his predecessors, who were either civil servants or from a defense background.
He may not be as famous in Lutyens’ Delhi, but he is said to be popular in the political and social circles of Gujarat.
Her claim to fame, as highlighted by several civil servants and activists based in Gujarat, has been building a strong counter-movement against the Medha Patkar-led Narmada Bachao Andolan, especially since the early 1990s. until the late 2000s.
In 2015, a year after the Narendra Modi government came to power at the Centre, Saxena was appointed KVIC chief – where he held the longest term till April this year, and credited for boosting the commission’s business. Are being given. ,
On 26 May, he took over as the Delhi LG, replacing Anil Baijal.
His appointment by the central government comes at a time when the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP, which is in charge of the elected government in Delhi, is trying to spread its wings, especially after its victory in Punjab earlier this year. and own position. As a challenge to the BJP in states like Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, where elections are due later this year.
Ever since he moved to Delhi’s Raj Niwas, 63-year-old Saxena has often been in the news for his standoff with the ruling party over several issues.
man of many colors
Saxena appears to be a man of many colours.
His bio on the Raj Niwas website describes him as: “A philanthropist in vision and a corporate scientist in action.” He also has a pilot’s license, the bio says.
A former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer described Saxena as an “ardent Gandhian” as he shared an anecdote about him.
When he visited London’s Madame Tussauds Wax Museum in 2008, Saxena is said to have found the Mahatma Gandhi statue “near a dustbin and an ice cream shop on the second floor” and “shared space with other magnificent world statues”. He was annoyed to see not doing”. leaders”, said the former civil servant, who did not wish to be identified.
“He (Saxena) wrote to Gordon Brown (then UK Prime Minister) complaining about the condition of the Gandhi statue in the museum. In the letter, he has also come to know about the alleged racial bias,” said the former IAS officer.
“Gandhi’s statue was immediately moved to the ‘World Leaders’ exhibition hall on the ground floor of the museum. He (Saxena) often talked about it in political circles and in meetings with bureaucrats, taking credit for it.
The Madame Tussauds incident on the day Saxena took charge as Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor found mention of a brief sent by the central government to the Delhi Raj Niwas – a copy of which has been seen by ThePrint – but it eventually made it into his bio. Couldn’t make Raj Niwas website.
“On the international front, he was courageous enough to move the statue of Mahatma Gandhi to the World Leaders Exhibition Hall at Madame Tussauds Wax Museum in London,” the note read without elaborating on the details of the incident.
Fight against the warriors of Narmada
An Ahmedabad-based lawyer, who claims to have known Saxena for many years, described him as “a person who does not know how to let go”.
Saxena is understood to have caught the attention of senior BJP functionaries and the party’s ideological guardian, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), when he began building a counter-movement against the Narmada Bachao Andolan.
Saxena is tall legal battle With Patkar and Mumbai-based activist Teesta Setalvad through an NGO called the National Council for Civil Liberties, founded in 1991.
Patkar and his associates, who were against several river projects, were vehemently opposed not only to the state government led by Modi, who was the chief minister of Gujarat between 2001 and 2014, but also of his predecessors including Keshubhai Patel and Chimanbhai Patel. Several civil servants and activists from Gujarat told ThePrint.
Saxena’s legal battles – even though most of them are still unresolved – were Allegedly He was instrumental in removing various obstacles in the way of Sardar Sarovar Dam project.
“When it comes to Patkar, Saxena is never in a position to give up,” the lawyer said.
Even after becoming the chairman of KVIC, Patkar’s movement was mentioned in his bio on the website of the commission and called it “one”.evil designWhich was “exposed” by Saxena.
“In April 2021, Patkar was on a field trip to West Bengal, mainly interacting with farmers on the agricultural laws movement, which was at its peak at that time. Saxena, who was then the chairman of the Khadi Commission, went after him, held parallel dialogue sessions with locals in the areas visited by Patkar – continuing the counter campaign against him,” the lawyer said.
Saxena’s NGO did Allegedly Also sought apology from actor Aamir Khan for his statement in support of Patkar on rehabilitation of people affected by Narmada dam in 2006, and wrote twice to actor Shabana Azmi in 2008 for supporting a report by Tata Institute of Social Sciences expressed disappointment. which was critical of the project.
Saxena – through his activism, which favored the “pro-development” stance of BJP governments in Gujarat in the 1990s and 2000s – is known in the good books of most state ministers since the time of Chimanbhai Patel. -led government.
“I don’t remember if I ever saw him on the ground. But he was still popular, and was often discussed in Gujarat’s social circles, either for his serial lawsuits or in newspapers in Gujarat often published by his NGO. As for the advertisements for the letters, many of which were considered defamatory in character, they often attacked critics of the state government, said Prakash N Shah, an 82-year-old journalist-turned-civil rights activist based in Ahmedabad.
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Kanpur University graduate
Born and brought up in Uttar Pradesh, Saxena graduated from Kanpur University 1981, Before relocating to Gujarat, he started his career as an assistant officer with a private company in Rajasthan 1995As General Manager of the proposed Dholera Port project developed by Adani Ports and JK Cement.
He was later promoted to the position of CEO and then Director of the project.
saxena Allegedly Gujarat is called its “second home state”.
In 2015, a year after Modi took office as prime minister for the first time, Saxena was made the chairman of KVIC.
During Saxena’s tenure, KVIC did a historic business of Rs 1.15 lakh crore in 2021-22. Highest KVIC and so far by any FMCG company in India. According to the organization’s annual report, its turnover during the 2012-2013 financial year was only Rs 1,000 crore.
According to a senior KVIC official who has worked closely with Saxena, his tenure is seen as one of the defining years for the agency that changed the perception about Khadi, making it internationally popular. Gone. “His work in the Khadi Commission brought him closer to PM Modi,” the official said.
Over the years, Saxena has also been part of several important committees which, according to some civil servants, amplify his influence.
For example, in 2021, saxena Was appointed as a member of the National Committee to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Independence, and was also nominated as a member of the High Level Padma Awards Selection Committee. Between 2016 and 2022, Saxena was nominated as a member of the ‘Empowered Committee’ to evaluate the ‘Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration’ every year.
Trouble for Kejriwal
“I want to tell the people of Delhi that I will act as their local guardian… I will be more visible on the streets than Raj Niwas” – these were the exact words of Saxena as he took charge as the LG of Delhi Had handled
Saxena is really visible on the streets. Every other day, they are seen undertaking tree plantation drives, reviewing landfills, participating in community events, inspecting water treatment plants, reviewing road upgrade projects, etc.
Since taking over, he has launched a public campaign for cleanliness YamunaDelhi’s solution depletion of groundwaterand deal with serious air pollution That the national capital witnesses every winter. Most of these are areas in which the AAP government in Delhi has been struggling to bring about change since it came to power in 2015.
Whereas AAP has been accusing Saxena.interferingUnder the jurisdiction of the elected government, Saxena has made it clear that he does not prefer to play on the back foot.
Weeks after taking office he cleared the Anti-Corruption Bureau the inspection The AAP government alleged irregularities in awarding tenders for the establishment of seven temporary COVID-19 hospitals.
On July 22, Saxena had recommended CBI the inspection Delhi’s excise policy
On 27 July, he wrote a letter to the Speaker of the Delhi Legislative Assembly, Ram Niwas Goel, asking that “constitutional compliance“The Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act – a law passed by Parliament last year that gives immense power over the functioning of the capital to the centrally appointed officer LG – in a subtle form change of strategy Compared to his predecessor Anil Baijal.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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