The Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government has received another gift from the Narendra Modi government at the Centre. Through an order issued by the Union Home Ministry, the Centre on Tuesday sacked nine advisors to the Delhi government. One of them was Atishi Marlena, the advisor to Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. At the helm of bringing positive changes in the Delhi education system, Marlena, AAP said, was drawing a monthly salary of just Re 1.

The Union home ministry in its letter to Delhi Government’s general administration department (GAD) on April 10 said the nine appointees were not on the list of posts approved for Delhi’s CM and ministers.

The department in its order, on Tuesday, said, “Further, no prior approval of the Central government has been taken for creation of said posts on which these persons have been appointed on co-terminus basis.”

The order cites a 1997 circular to say that the Central government’s approval is a must before such appointments are filled. Or, more simply put, the Centre is saying: Because we can, we will!

“The services”—the rights related to appointment, transfer and suspension of Delhi government employees—fall under Centre’s jurisdiction as per the notification dated May 21, 2015. Hence, the Centre’s argument is that the right for the creation of such posts, like in case of Marlena, is a subject reserved with them and not with the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government.

“Since the creation of these posts and subsequent appointment on these posts are not valid, all previous orders regarding the creation of these posts and appointments” made against them “are cancelled”, the letter to the GAD informed. And with it, the association of nine advisors with the AAP government came to an end.

Those who have been sacked include Raghav Chaddha (advisor to finance minister), Prashant Saxena (consultant—Power, PWD, health minister), Arunoday Prakash (media advisor to Dy. CM) and Amar Deep Tiwari (media advisor to law minister). AAP has already attacked the Narendra Modi government, raising questions about the decision’s intent.

Pointing out the loopholes in the “sacking” order, deputy CM Manish Sisodia said that four appointees—Chaddha, Saxena, Samir Malhotra and Rajat Tiwari—don’t even work with the government anymore. Saxena, Sisodia said,  “left the government [his post] a year and a half back, he is not working with the government since then.”

Chaddha, who served as advisor to the Finance Minister in 2016, claimed that he had worked with Delhi government only for two-and-a-half months, and for a salary of Rs 2.5o. He said the order was part of BJP’s diversionary tactics.

“Impressive diversionary tactics by the MHA, at the behest of BJP. To divert attention from a spate of rapes, cash crunch etc. an opportune time to rake up non-issues with AAP like retrospective sacking for a post I held for 45 days in 2016 for a paltry sum of Rs 2.50,” Chaddha said.

According to Sisodia, posts of the media advisors, on which Tiwari and Prakash served, were not created by the AAP government. “These posts existed even under the Sheila Dikshit government,” he said.

Sisodia said the order was originally targeted at Marlena, “who has been changing Delhi’s education system”. He challenged the PM to show one state governed by the BJP where government schools have not been shut down.

“We have opened five excellence schools in Delhi. I challenge Narendra Modiji to show me one school, governed by his party, which can be compared to Delhi’s schools,” Sisodia said.

Despite all the controversies that have marred the Delhi government, its performance in the health and the education sectors have been impressive. While AAP’s pet ‘mohalla clinics’ project has fetched global acclaim, the improvement in Delhi government schools has also made national headlines.

Whether it is the introduction of summer camps or parent-teacher Meets (PTMs), things have changed for the better. Government schools have also benefited from drastic infrastructural changes– some of them even have swimming pools now—in the past three years.

According to reports,  children of Delhi government schools have lately performed better in Class XII boards than kids who go to private schools. The government has also claimed to have been focusing on better training of government school teachers and principals. Marlena has been the woman behind these changes.

Even Sisodia, who also serves as the state’s education minister, has had no qualms in crediting the St Stephen’s College and Oxford University alumna for her stellar work.

Speaking to Newslaundry, Marlena said the Centre was wary of the changes being brought about in the education sector. “If you look at the big picture, for a while, they [Central government] have been trying to destabilise us,” Marlena said. “The bureaucrats are effectively on strike. How is the government working? It is working through its advisors, its political nominees. Now they want to put that to a standstill.”

She further added that there could be no other reason to “sack” an appointee who is not even working with the government and two persons [Tiwari and Prakash] who are sitting on posts approved by the Lieutenant Governor.

As the AAP and the BJP lock horns on the issue, the Congress party is using it as an opportunity to take a dig at the Kejriwal government. Soon after the news surfaced, Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken said, “Shunglu Committee submitted Report on 28 Nov 2016 – pointed out grave irregularities in appointments of 71 AAP party supporters in Delhi Government. Not only their appointment was illegal, many were given salaries/reimbursement from tax payers money up to Rs 1.30 lakh/month. Never happened earlier!”

However, keeping in mind Marlena’s contribution to government schools in the state and her honorary salary, it is going to be difficult for the BJP-led Central government to justify her sacking. Especially, when its own Chief Minister in Madhya Pradesh has gone on to appoint the likes of Computer Baba as a Minister of State.