By Sushil Kutty
Only the Jarawa and the North Sentinel must not know of Arvind Kejriwal. The Delhi Chief Minister cannot stomach the jolt that the ‘Govt’ in Delhi means ‘LG’ courtesy the “unconstitutional” Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2021. Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy said the Bill and the new nomenclature for Delhi government had become necessary.
Hell, this cannot be, ridiculous, what the heck… Kejriwal didn’t reduce himself to a blubbering idiot, frustrated fool. The Delhi Chief Minister has decided to fight the move to clip his wings, make the Aam Aadmi Party persona nongrata in the foothills of the Aravallis. AAP and Kejriwal have both climbed to the top of the mountain and nobody, definitely not a befooling Bill, would be allowed to throw them off the cliff, not without a bitter fight to the end.
The motives of the Modi Government are suspect. A bill that says the government in Delhi is ipso facto the lieutenant governor of Delhi is nothing but sleight of hand, a mockery of democracy. Who is the LG, only an appointee of the Central Government, he should be nothing more than a rubber stamp like all good presidents of India are, and have been. The LG cannot be given an exalted position higher than that of the President of India, can he?
Unbelievable. Not done, not in India, and not in Timbuctu. G Kishan Reddy says the Bill is necessary because there’s “ambiguity” on some issues regarding the Delhi government. But does that mean the Delhi government will do a three-and-a-half somersault and land in the lap of the Centre? What’s the Centre got to do with Delhi, and the elected Government of Delhi, which means in unalloyed terms none other than the Kejriwal Government? Yup, the name’s Kejriwal, like in the Bond movies, Arvind Kejriwal!
And by the way, why’s a junior minister holding forth on such a grandiose piece of legislation regarding a matter relating to the nation’s capital? Where’s the portly Mr. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, he should have been the one announcing the unwarranted change, like he did when the Government of India summarily abrogated the iconic Article 370! That was tragic, the death of autonomy in the laps of the majestic Himalayas. Politicians cursed, but common folk, gullible people, they wept at the thought J&K would no longer be a full-fledged state! Tragic.
And, now, the same fate is being foisted on Delhi, reducing Indraprastha to less than a state, when it’s been a seat of power of the entire India, Bharatvarsha, Hindustan, for long rolling centuries, from the time of God knows which ancient King to now the right honourable his excellency duly elected Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal. No need to snicker, or give that snide look from under bushy eyebrows. The “government” in Delhi means “Kejriwal”, and not “LG” as junior home minister G Kishan Reddy had got it all wrong.
The Bill makes it mandatory for the Delhi government to take the opinion of the LG, who, according to the Bill, is the government, before taking any executive action. So, there are two governments in Delhi, one which’s been duly and properly elected by the people of Delhi, and the other which this Bill imposes on the people of Delhi. Of course, Reddy did try to erase doubts saying, “Please do not say that it is a political bill.” That’s rich. If this isn’t political, what is?
The Centre is trying to hide behind “Delhi is a Union Territory”, but then Delhi was a UT even when Madanlal Khurana was the Delhi CM! And later when Atal Behari Vajpayee was Prime Minister nobody in the Government or BJP thought of foisting the LG on the Chief Minister. Were there no ambiguities at that time, didn’t certain confusions or technicalities affect the efficiency of the administration? Contrary to what Reddy said, there was “murder of democracy.” And if the Congress government in 1991 had enacted the GNCTD to turn Delhi into a Union Territory (UT) with an assembly with “limited legislative powers, that doesn’t mean two wrongs make a right.
The Lieutenant Governor has set duties to perform. He cannot always be hovering over the heads of bureaucrats asking to know day-to-day affairs. Of course, the Modi Government has “snatched power from the Delhi government” and given it to the LG. Of course, the “Modi government is dictatorial.” And
Kejriwal alone is not saying that. Freedom House spelled it out, and Sweden’s V-Dem got hold of the statistics to state it. Social Media is full of talk belting out the same message! The Centre has with the Bill and usurption of power only added to the ambiguity.
Reddy spoke of cases filed before the Delhi High Court, and said that even the court had ruled that the LG should be informed before any executive action is taken on anything. But Kejriwal does not want any part of that. Take back the Bill is his only refrain. A lesson learnt from the farmers agitation. Nothing less than the repeal of the three farm laws, period. The Congress says the bill is “unconstitutional”, and that an earlier amendment had given certain rights to the city government which now was being taken away by this amendment!
Kejriwal has the Congress party’s back. And the back of the other opposition parties. Mamata Banerjee and Trinamool Congress are in the Kejriwal corner. The reality is that the BJP/Modi Government is these days almost always isolated. Call it the farmers effect, but that’s a matter of fact, not conjecture or fleeting thought, Narendra Modi and the BJP are losing ground. You could even say the ground is slipping from under their feet! The gist is that if Narendra Modi is an elected Prime Minister, Arvind Kejriwal is an elected Chief Minister. Neither of the two is selected like Imran Khan!
By giving the last resort decision to the LG, the Centre and Bill is severely compromising the rule of law in the state. The AAP government has a manifesto to implement. Arvind Kejriwal has election promises to fulfill. Nobody can take away the right from him to serve the people of Delhi as they wished him to serve. That is why the people of Delhi elected him and the AAP to power, and rejected the BJP. Now, using a majority in Parliament to overturn is tantamount to overthrow!
The backdoor entry being effected by the Modi Government cannot go unchallenged. The Congress party’s Manish Tewari is right, the Bill that says ‘LG’ is ‘Government’ is “unconstitutional”, a fraud played on the people and the country. It stops the Kejriwal government from implementing decisions taken by the legislative assembly. And if the BJP’s Meenakashi Lekhi argues otherwise, she’s being clever by half! She says the Centre’s say cannot be ignored.
The last word on this subject is that the Centre has overstepped. And it has to pull back. For, with every step forward, it’s moved closer to authoritarianism, and dictatorship doesn’t just mean quelling freedom of expression and speech alone, but also overthrowing the people’s verdict in ways and manners unacceptable. Getting a Bill passed in Parliament may satisfy technicalities, but it doesn’t for one whit bit honour the people’s will! (IPA Service)