A selected official can’t rule a state with elected representatives: Sisodia

NEW DELHI: Taking a dig at the lieutenant governor, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said on Monday in the Delhi assembly that voter was bigger than the elected

NEW DELHI: Taking a dig at the lieutenant governor, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said on Monday in the Delhi assembly that voter was bigger than the elected and the elected bigger than the selected. He questioned how a ‘selected’ official (the L-G) can govern Delhi when the city has elected representatives.

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“Our fight is against the idea that Delhi will be governed by the L-G despite an elected government. When we contested elections, we knew that law and order, police and land were not under our control,” he said at the four-day session of the Assembly.

Sisodia was referring to the Delhi high court’s verdict that all decisions taken by the Delhi government have to be cleared by the lieutenant governor.

“The L-G should cooperate with us on other subjects like he did with the other governments... The weight of someone’s vote in Uttar Pradesh should be the same as the weight of a Delhiite,” he said.

Sisodia said the Centre wants to govern Delhi via President’s rule.

“If it was upto them (BJP), they would tear the calendar and turn back time so that February 10, 2015 never comes,” Sisodia said.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government was elected on February 10 last year.

Sisodia said the opposition had a problem with the AAP government’s style of working because the party challenged traditional norms and worked for the poor.

“Delhi would have become ‘jannat’ had the Centre not put a spanner in our works. For us, a manifesto is a contractual obligation. It might be a julma for others. We are accountable to the public,” said Malviya Nagar MLA, Somnath Bharati.

AAP legislators said they pin their hopes on the Supreme Court.