Delhi Services Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Friday accused Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar of issuing a death threat to him and said he has apprised Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena about the matter.

Bharadwaj's allegation comes amid a brewing discord between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) dispensation and bureaucrats.

Following his meeting with Saxena at the Raj Niwas, Bharadwaj told reporters that the lieutenant governor (LG) has assured him of action.

"On May 16, the meeting of the Civil Services Board was scheduled and we were waiting for the chief secretary till 9:30 pm since he was busy. We sent him WhatsApp messages and he said he will come," the minister said.?

Bharadwaj alleged that "at 9.30 pm when he came to my office, he threatened to kill me". "We have informed LG sir about the matter in clear words. He has said he will take strict action. We want that strict action should be taken against Naresh Kumar," he said.

The AAP government has sought the Centre's approval to appoint 1989-batch IAS officer P K Gupta as the new chief secretary of Delhi, officials said on Thursday. ?? ?

Gupta is currently serving as additional chief secretary at the general administration department of the Delhi government. Chief Secretary Kumar is due to retire later this year, they had said.

Kumar, a 1988-batch IAS officer of the AGMUT cadre, had a strained relationship with the AAP dispensation.?

He was accused by the AAP of taking direct orders from the LG by bypassing the elected government in Delhi.?

The charges against Kumar by the AAP leaders included an alleged conspiracy to prevent the popular power subsidy scheme of the government.?