No state is immune: Delhi CM Kejriwal; asks Congress to clear stand on ordinance

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said he will raise during a June 23 meeting of Opposition parties the issue of a central ordinance that gave control of the city’s bureaucracy to the lieutenant governor (LG), and discuss how the Union government may “replicate” it in other states to strip them of their autonomy.

Addressing a press conference in Delhi, Kejriwal added that he hopes the Congress is asked to clear its stand on the ordinance during the meeting, convened by Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar in Patna.

Read: Opposition parties unlikely to ink common minimum programme at Patna meet

Opposition parties are expected to explore at the meeting the possibility of a common ground to put up a united fight against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 general elections.

“I will explain to leaders of other parties that the Centre has promulgated the ordinance in Delhi not just because it is a semi-state. I will tell them it can be brought in any state...Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Punjab,” Kejriwal said. “Through the ordinance, the Centre can take away any state government’s autonomy to legislate on a topic mentioned in the concurrent list,” he added.

The Union government on May 19 promulgated an ordinance that effectively nullified a May 11 order of the Supreme Court that reinforced that the authority of the elected government in controlling bureaucrats in all but three domains in Delhi. The ordinance reopened a battle that seemed to have been settled by the Supreme Court’s ruling.

The ordinance also provided for creating a National Capital Civil Service Authority and Public Service Commission for transfers and postings of officers.

Over the past month, Kejriwal has met several Opposition leaders to garner support against the ordinance. His campaigns are also aimed at halting any move by the Centre to turn its ordinance into a full-fledged law in Parliament, particularly in the Rajya Sabha.

The Congress is yet to take a stand on the ordinance, and the party’s state-level leaders, especially in Delhi and Punjab, have implored the senior leadership against supporting the AAP.

“I hope the ordinance will be the first topic of discussion in the meeting and other parties will ask the Congress to make its stand clear on the ordinance,” Kejriwal said.

The Congress is keeping its cards close to its chest but two Rajya Sabha leaders maintained that there is “no question” of supporting any ordinance of the Narendra Modi government.

Read: Rise above party line to oppose ordinance: Kejriwal to Congress

“We will discuss the issue with our state unit. But one thing is clear, the Congress party will not support the ordinance. We might not support AAP in Parliament and take an independent stand.”

The party is yet to decide how it will approach the ordinance issue in Parliament. With the possibility of supporting the ordinance virtually nil, the Congress might decide to attack both AAP and the BJP during the discussion on the related bill. “We might also think of abstaining and not voting on the bill. We have many options in hand,” said a second leader.

Several opposition parties including Samajwadi Party, Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal, Trinamool Congress, CPI(M), and Bharat Rashtra Samiti have lent the AAP support in their pushback against the ordinance.

Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor, meanwhile, said that after failing to get any concrete assurance from most opposition parties including Congress over ordinance, Kejriwal is now trying to create fear in the minds of opposition leaders. “After the June 23 meeting of opposition parties Kejriwal will realise that he is a unwelcome entry in the event as most opposition parties consider him to be threat as hops around the country with Prime Ministerial ambition,” Kapoor said.

The ordinance cast a bundle of new provisions in the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) Act, 1991 and handed back control of Delhi’s administrative machinery to the LG.

The Supreme Court’s May 11 judgment found no justification in a 2015 notification of the Centre putting “services” — as found in Entry 41 of List II (State List) of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India — beyond the ambit of the legislative and executive power of the elected government in the national capital.