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Contentious bill on Delhi clears Lok Sabha after heated debate
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said by passing the Bill, the BJP has cheated the people and termed it an insult to the people of Delhi.
The Lok Sabha on Monday passed the The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2021, that seeks to make it mandatory for the Delhi government to seek the prior opinion of the L-G before any executive action, following a heated debate which saw the Opposition parties rallying behind the AAP and accusing the Centre of trying to run Delhi through an administrator.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said by passing the Bill, the BJP has cheated the people and termed it an insult to the people of Delhi. “Passage of GNCTD Amendment Bill in Lok Sabha today is an insult to people of Delhi. The Bill effectively takes away powers from those who were voted by people & gives powers to run Delhi to those who were defeated. BJP has cheated the people,” Kejriwal tweeted.
Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Gopal Rai said the Bill was an insult not only to the people of Delhi but also the Constitution.
“It will be remembered as a black day in the history of democracy,” he tweeted.
During the debate, the treasury bench argued that according to the laws, the Delhi government can only enjoy “crippled power”.
Both sides sparred over legal arguments, power of Delhi’s L-G, the Balakrishna Committee report and even debated the performance of the Arvind Kejriwal government.
The Bill, introduced in the House last Monday, says that “government” in Delhi will mean the L-G in the context of all legislation. It also says that the Delhi assembly cannot constitute any committees to look into the day-to-day and administrative issues.
Since Delhi is a Union territory, its elected government does not have full control over the city-state. Law and order, land and services come directly under the L-G. This unique duality has led to frequent tussles between the Delhi government and the Centre.
Congress leader Manish Tewari accused the BJP of turning 180 degrees in their stand on Delhi and pointed out that LK Advani as union home minister introduced 102nd constitutional amendment to give entire Delhi apart from New Delhi region full statehood. “The same NDA government brought a bill to end the democratic system in Delhi. This bill is unconstitutional and has a targeted and mala fide intention that seeks to take away Delhi’s character,” he said.
He argued that the proposed law defies pragmatic federalism and violates the laxman rekha formed by Supreme Court for the Delhi government. “How can the Delhi government mean the LG when SC has said LG is only an administrator? You (the Centre) want to end democracy and run Delhi through LG,” Tewari accused.
“If an assembly can’t have oversight of government activities, what is the utility of having an assembly?” asked Tewari.
Tewari and New Delhi MP Meenakshi Lekhi argued over Article 239 AA and 239 B that defines the power for the L-G and the Delhi government. Lekhi said a governor works as per the advice of a council of ministers but an L-G is assisted by the council of ministers. “The rights of the state government and L-G haven’t been changed. They have been defined,” she said.
Lekhi narrated several instances — water logging under Minto Bridge, non-availability of piped water in Patel Nagar, and how Delhi Police were denied buses to tackle farm law protesters—to label the AAP government as “anarchists”.
She alleged that Kejriwal government spent ₹524 crore on advertisements while the former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit had just ₹32 crore budget for publicity. “Union home minister sets up new hospitals which were to be done by Delhi CM. PM Awas scheme, Kisan samman nidhi are not given to people in Delhi,” she said, accusing the government of mismanaging the national capital.
AAP MP from Sangrur (Punjab) Bhagwant Mann slammed the Centre as “specialist in snatching power of states”. He gave examples of Madhya Pradesh and quipped, “Where the BJP doesn’t come to power through elections it comes through by-elections”.
He said the Delhi CM, a “Magsaysay award winner”,sought votes on his performance and asked if the BJP can do the same. “What is the problem in sitting in Opposition? You didn’t give Leader of Opposition to Congress in Lok Sabha but we gave your leader [the status of] LoP in Delhi assembly. We didn’t hand over a stadium to you because you wanted to make it a prison for farmers. Tomorrow, you might bring a Bill for no elections in the country.”
Shiv Sena MP Vinayak Raut argued that “just as Lok Sabha is supreme, an assembly is supreme in its own state” and said, “Are we going towards the British Raj? We are imposing a bureaucrat on top of people’s representatives. This Bill would mean the assembly or a minister can’t take any steps.”
BSP’s Danish Ali was critical of the AAP government but attacked the BJP saying, “It’s very unfortunate that this NDA government tramples upon BR Ambedkar’s constitution. Instead of decentralisation of power, it is being given to a person.”
While the YSR Congress Party supported the Bill, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) opposed it.
The Bill will now be taken up in the Rajya Sabha for consideration, before it becomes the law.
