Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, has submitted his resignation to President Ram Nath Kovind citing “personal reasons”. Mr Baijal had taken over as Lieutenant Governor in December 2016 following the abrupt resignation of his predecessor Najeeb Jung. He has completed his five-year tenure and an appointment of his successor has been due.
He is a 1969 batch IAS officer and had served as Union Home Secretary under former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and held key positions in other ministries. Under the Congress-led UPA government, he oversaw the ₹ 60,000 crore Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.
As Lieutenant Governor, Mr Baijal was chief of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority that spearheaded the capital’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tussle between AAP and BJP government
The role of Lieutenant Governor had been a point of issue between Delhi’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government and the BJP, which rules at the centre, for years until a landmark Supreme Court judgement in 2018 that spelled out their powers more clearly.
The Lieutenant Governor does not have independent decision-making powers and the real power must lie with the elected government, the Supreme Court had ruled in a big win for Mr Kejriwal in the years-long fight for control of Delhi.
List of lieutenant governors of Delhi
The Lieutenant Governor of Delhi is the constitutional head of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. The post was first established in September 1966, when The Delhi Administration Act, 1966 came into effect. Thus the former Delhi Legislative Assembly was replaced by the Delhi Metropolitan Council with 56 elected and 5 nominated members with the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi as its head. The Council however had no legislative powers, only an advisory role in the governance of Delhi. This setup functioned until 1990, when the Assembly was reinstated; the position of Lieutenant Governor retained its role.
The National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2021 was introduced in Parliament of India and was passed by both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The bill states that the Government referred to in any law to be made by the Legislative Assembly shall mean the Lieutenant Governor.
Delhi was earlier head by a Chief Commissioner who was an ICS officer. In 1966 the Delhi Administration Act was passed which set up a Delhi Metropolitan Council with the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi as its head.
List of lieutenant governors of Delhi
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List of Lieutenant Governors of Delhi |
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| # | Name | Took office | Left office |
| 1 | Aditya Nath Jha, ICS | 7 November 1966 | 19 January 1972 |
| 2 | M.C. Pimputkar, ICS | 19 January 1972 | 23 April 1972 |
| 3 | Baleshwar Prasad, IAS | 24 April 1972 | 3 October 1974 |
| 4 | Krishan Chand, ICS | 3 October 1974 | 30 March 1978 |
| 5 | Dalip Rai Kohli, ICS | 30 March 1978 | 17 February 1980 |
| 6 | Jagmohan Malhotra, IAS | 17 February 1980 | 30 March 1981 |
| 7 | Sundar Lal Khurana, IAS | 30 March 1981 | 2 September 1982 |
| 8 | Jagmohan Malhotra, IAS | 2 September 1982 | 25 April 1984 |
| 9 | P. G. Gavai, IAS | 25 April 1984 | Nov 1984 |
| 10 | Mohan M.K. Wali, IAS | Nov 1984 | Nov 1985 |
| 11 | AVM H. L. Kapur, PVSM, AVSM | Nov 1985 | Aug 1988 |
| 12 | Romesh Bhandari, IFS | Aug 1988 | Dec 1989 |
| 13 | ACM Arjan Singh, DFC | Dec 1989 | Dec 1990 |
| 14 | Markandey Singh, IPS | Dec 1990 | 4 May 1992 |
| 15 | Prasannabhai Karunashankar Dave, IAS | 4 May 1992 | 4 January 1997 |
| 16 | Tejendra Khanna, IAS | 4 January 1997 | 20 April 1998 |
| 17 | Vijai Kapoor, IAS | 20 April 1998 | 9 June 2004 |
| 18 | Banwari Lal Joshi, IPS | 9 June 2004 | 9 April 2007 |
| 19 | Tejendra Khanna, IAS | 9 April 2007 | 9 July 2013 |
| 20 | Najeeb Jung, IAS | 9 July 2013 | 22 December 2016 |
| 21 | Anil Baijal, IAS | 31 December 2016 | 18 May 2022 |