Former Union home secy Anil Baijal likely to be next Delhi Lt Governor

NEW DELHI: Former Union home secretary Anil Baijal was on Wednesday appointed as the new Lieutenant-Governor of Delhi. President Pranab Mukherjee, who is on a 10-day southern sojourn, gave his assent to the Centre’s recommendation for acceptance of outgoing LG Najeeb Jung ’s resignation and naming of Baijal as his successor.Baijal, a 1969 batch IAS officer, was home secretary in 2004 under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. His tenure was however short-lived as the UPA government, soon after taking over in May 2004, shunted him out. After retirement, he served on 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 adviser Ajit Doval.Baijal’s appointment comes against the backdrop of a tumultous working relationship between his predecessor Najeeb Jung and the Arvind Kejriwal government. Jung’s tenure saw him embroiled in many run-ins with the Kejriwal government, where the latter constantly challenged the former’s supremacy in running affairs of the Government of NCT of Delhi.Though Jung was a UPA appointee, the NDA government let him continue in the ‘prized’ post for two and half years. Even though Jung had offered to resign on two earlier occasions, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told him to stay on. On December 22, however, Jung announced his resignation, saying that he would be going back to his first love - academics.70-year-old Baijal, whose appointment papers were sent to the President earlier on Wednesday for approval, is known to be a reserved individual who prefers to go by the rule-book. He retired from government service in 2006 as secretary, urban development ministry. He had also served as vice-chairman of Delhi Development Authority earlier in his career.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.For Baijal, the foremost challenge will be to avoid confrontations and find a way to work with the Arvind Kejriwal government.