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TDP likely to support crucial Delhi services bill
The TDP on Wednesday indicated it will back the Delhi services bill, bolstering the support for a legislation that is already likely to sail through Parliament.
The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on Wednesday indicated it will back the Delhi services bill, bolstering the support for a legislation that is already likely to sail through Parliament.
With TDP’s backing, which comes days after the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) lent their support, the Centre is expected to get 124 votes in the Rajya Sabha, which currently has only 237. The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023, which was tabled in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, seeks to replace an ordinance promulgated on May 19 to allow the Centre to retain control over the bureaucracy in Delhi.
The ordinance effectively overruled a May 11 Supreme Court judgment, which handed charge of the Capital’s bureaucracy to the elected Delhi government, excluding departments connected to police, public order and land.
The bill did not come up for discussion in the Lower House on Wednesday, despite being scheduled, amid protests by the Opposition. It is likely to be taken up again on Thursday. “We haven’t yet got any clear instruction from (TDP chief) Chandrababu Naidu, but most likely we are going to support the government on the Delhi ordinance bill,” a senior TDP functionary said.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi reacted sharply to the possible move by TDP.
“These parties (TDP, YSRCP, BJD) must have taken this decision under some compulsions... Those who will support this bill will be remembered as anti-national... We will fight to save the Constitution of India, We should also remember that if BJP succeeds in bringing this bill in Delhi, they will also use it in other non-BJP states,” AAP MP Raghav Chadha said.
With the BJD, YSRCP and TDP declaring support, the ruling NDA can rally 124 lawmakers in favour of the bill in the House.
The Opposition can muster a maximum of 106 MPs to oppose the bill since two Opposition lawmakers — AAP’s Sanjay Singh and Congress’s Rajani Patil — are serving suspension from the Upper House. The ordinance has inflamed the tussle between the AAP and the centrally appointed lieutenant governor over control of the national capital.
The AAP government in Delhi has called the ordinance “illegal”, “unconstitutional” and a “black law”. Senior AAP leaders, including party chief and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, traversed the country to rally support against the ordinance. The party also hinged its entry into the INDIA grouping on the Congress taking a stand on the ordinance.
On Tuesday, the BJD extended its support to the contentious Delhi services bill. “The Centre has brought a law pursuant to the Supreme Court’s judgment. How can you challenge its legislative competence? On a point of law, you can’t challenge the introduction of this bill,” BJD’s Lok Sabha floor leader Pinaki Mishra told Opposition leaders who were opposing the introduction of the legislation on the ground that the government doesn’t have legislative competence. BJD leader Sasmit Patra said the party will support the central government on both the no-confidence motion and the Delhi bill. He added the party has issued a three-line whip to all its MPs in the Lower House and Upper House to ensure their attendance in Parliament.
Meanwhile, Delhi MP Ramesh Bidhuri said: “We decided to raise the issue of atrocities against women in Rajasthan in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. It is a very important issue and therefore, it needs to be raised in the highest legislative body in the country.”
