Delhi Assembly on Wednesday passed a resolution holding as “illegal” Centre’s notification giving more powers to the lt governor with chief minister Arvind Kejriwal blasting the Modi government, terming its move as a prelude to pushing the country towards “dictatorship”.
In the resolution, the Assembly called the home ministry’s notification an attempt to “encroach upon” the legislative powers of the House conferred by the Constitution and said it was “completely unconstitutional, illegal and invalid”.
Just before the House adopted the resolution, Kejriwal in his fiery address lambasted LG Najeeb Jung who he said was “dancing to the tune” of the Centre and “deliberately” trying to create obstacles for the AAP government.
“Whatever is happening in Delhi is dangerous. This is the Delhi experiment of the BJP-led Centre. One by one, this experiment would be implemented in every non-BJP state. They want to take the country towards dictatorship. I appeal to all non-BJP chief ministers to come together and unite on this issue,” he said.
Kejriwal also alleged that slums across Delhi are being demolished at the instructions of Jung so that people get agitated against the AAP government.
The resolution said the ministry of home affairs issued the notification without having any jurisdiction to do so. The special two-day session which concluded on Wednesday was called to discuss the notification.
The three BJP MLAs staged a walkout just before the resolution was adopted. “This house finds this act of ministry of home affairs as an attempt on the part of the central government, to encroach upon the legislative powers of this august house conferred by the Constitution, in a completely unconstitutional and illegal manner, by bypassing the Parliament and thereby even grabbing the powers of the Parliament itself,” it said.
In the resolution, the House also urged President Pranab Mukherjee to invoke his powers under Article 143 of Constitution and to make a reference to the Supreme Court to clearly define the powers and responsibilities of the Delhi government, the LG and the central government with respect to Legislative and Executive functions of National Capital Territory of Delhi.
The House also “expected” the officers and employees of the city government to follow the orders related to work allotment without any fear.
In his address, Kejriwal said the notification granting more powers to the LG in appointments of bureaucrats as well as matters relating to police and public order was issued considering “political” calculations as the Centre wanted to defame the AAP government.
