Delhi Home Minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Satyendar Jain on Wednesday questioned a directive by Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung that had sought the details of foreign trips taken by ministers of the Arvind Kejriwal-led government, PTI reported. Jain said AAP ministers make fewer visits abroad than their counterparts in other states.

“Foreign tours are undertaken by AAP ministers for only official purpose after the government’s approval,” Jain said. “If we go abroad for personal purposes, we spend our money.” The minister asked if the lieutenant governor would seek details of foreign tours undertaken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He also accused “previous governments” of working fewer hours than the Kejriwal administration.

On August 30, Jung had asked the Delhi government’s General Administration Department to furnish his office with the details and purposes of all foreign visits made by state ministers, their personal staff and officials in the past 18 months.

Officials told PTI that Jain and Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia have undertaken four foreign tours each on the government's expenditure. However, they clarified that former Delhi Social Welfare Minister Sandeep Kumar travelled privately to the United States along with his family.

Jain’s remarks are the latest development in an ongoing power struggle between the Kejriwal government and the lieutenant governor. Jung had on August 30 also appointed a three-member panel to study more than 400 documents submitted by the AAP government in the past one-and-a-half-years, particularly those containing “infirmities and irregularities”.

On August 4, the Delhi High Court had ruled that the lieutenant governor was the administrative head of the National Capital Region and rejected the AAP government’s contention that the person holding the post needed to act on the advice of the Delhi Cabinet.