THE CONTROVERSIAL Government of Delhi National Capital Territory Bill (Amendment), 2021, which seeks to make the deputy governor of Delhi equivalent to the government of Delhi, was passed in Parliament on Wednesday with the approval of Rajya Sabha, but not before it became a meeting point for the entire Opposition and saw regional parties uniting in a rare backlash against what they called an arrogant Center.
Up to 12 opposition parties in Rajya Sabha and nine in Lok Sabha opposed the bill. Outside the House, Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who had previously criticized the bill as a measure to undermine his government, described its passage as a “sad day”, while MP CM Manish Sisodia called it a “black day” for democracy.
In Rajya Sabha, 16 MPs from 14 parties participated in the debate. In a show of unity, representatives from Congress, AAP, TMC, BJD, DMK, YSRCP, SP, CPI (M), Shiv Sena, SAD, TDP and NCP opposed the bill, leaving only the BJP and ally RPI. (A) in your favor. Pushing through the ranks of the opposition, YSRCP, which supported the bill in the Lok Sabha, opposed it in the Upper House.
Although the bill was passed in Rajya Sabha by 83 votes to 45, the process also witnessed a strike by Congress, SP, YSRCP, BJD and AIADMK.
In the Lok Sabha, eight opposition parties – AAP, BSP, Congress, IUML, NC, NCP, Shiv Sena and SP – had opposed the bill, which was supported by BJP and YSRCP.
In total, 28 members participated in the discussions in both houses, of which 22 supported the bill.
On Wednesday, the Upper House saw heated discussions with opposition MPs chanting slogans against the government. Opposing the bill, opposition leader Mallikarjun Kharge said it would effectively take away the rights of people’s representatives and put LG in charge. “What good are elections if you are making LG the leader?” Kharge asked, as he demanded that the bill be sent to a select committee.
Congressman Abhishek Manu Singhvi described the bill as “the most pernicious, unconstitutional … this House has ever seen.” “This is not about the AAP, it is not about Congress, it is not about West Bengal, it is about the foundations of federalism… Even the Delhi BJP should join us. I may be in power in Delhi tomorrow, ”he said.
Singhvi argued against the key provisions of the bill, especially clause 4 which states that the Legislative Assembly will not establish any rules that allow it to consider the affairs of the daily administration of the capital or conduct investigations in relation to administrative decisions. “If Delhi can’t investigate or do day-to-day business, will they fry pakodas?” he said.
The bill, which was approved by Lok Sabha on March 22, also defines the term “Government”. It establishes that the “expression ‘Government’ referred to in any law enacted by the Legislative Assembly … shall mean the Lieutenant Governor.”
Derek O’Brien of TMC asked: “What is more important? The Constitution of India or the party manifesto? “He said that several TMC MPs flew in favor of this bill rather than campaigning for elections in West Bengal” because the Constitution is more important. “
“This is not about the Aam Aadmi Party and I want to appeal to my friends at AIADMK who are now sitting with them… Shiv Sena no more. I want to appeal to TRS. I want to appeal to YSR and JD (U). Don’t go, one day they will come for you. This regime wants to destroy every institution brick by brick, ”he said.
Some regional parties that have sided with the BJP on various issues spoke out against the bill. BJD member Prasanna Acharya said the bill should be subject to wider consultation as it “undermines the authority and power of the elected government, of an elected Assembly.” V Vijaysai Reddy of YSRCP said his party “favors the representation of the people rather than the person nominated by the government.”
DMK’s P Wilson called the move to pass the bill a “flagrant violation” of the Constitution, while SP’s Vishambhar Prasad Nishad echoed the demand to send the bill to a select committee.
Referring to the Center, AAP’s AAP Sanjay Singh said: “The voters cast their votes in an EVM and elected a government. You may not like the government, but you have to accept it. We also accept you because this is the voice of democracy ”.
Shiv Sena’s Priyanka Chaturvedi said that “at a time when reports call India a partially free country and an electoral autocracy … all government measures suggest that this country is moving away from democracy.” And, Naresh Gujral from SAD said that “what we are doing today takes us back to the days of Nehru”.
At Lok Sabha, 12 members from 10 parties – BJP, Congress, AAP, BSP, NC, NCP, Shiv Sena, SP, YSRCP and IUML – had participated in the discussion. Only three, two from BJP and one from YSRCP, supported the bill, while nine opposed.
Congressman Manish Tewari said the legislation “is completely unconstitutional.” “It is a colored, selective and bad faith legislation that seeks to remove the representative character of the Delhi government,” he said.
In addition to Congress and the AAP, Shiv Sena’s Vinayak Raut, BSP’s Kunwar Danish Ali, NCP’s Supriya Sule, SP’s ST Hasan, NC’s Hanain Masoodi, and IUML’s ET Mohammed Basheer spoke out against the bill, warning that ” it would affect cooperative federalism. “
.
