Stalin gets Kejriwal’s support for seeking timeframe for guvs to clear bills

A resolution similar to the one passed by the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly on April 10 will be tabled in the Delhi Vidhan Sabha in the upcoming session urging the Union government to fix a timeframe for governors and lieutenant governors (LGs) to carry out their constitutional duties such as approving bills passed by state legislatures, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has said in a letter to his Tamil Nadu counterpart M K Stalin.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president, who received the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener’s letter on Saturday, shared a copy of it on Twitter on Sunday. This is a development following Stalin’s letter on April 11, which was sent to the chief ministers of non- Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ruled states seeking their support for Tamil Nadu’s resolution and he urged them to adopt similar resolutions in their state assemblies. Kejriwal is the first to show support to the Stalin-led government.

“Indeed, the sovereignty of the legislature is supreme in any democracy. No ‘appointed’ Governor shall undermine the legislative power & responsibilities of ‘elected’ Govts,” Stalin said.

Kejriwal in his letter said that a silent war is being waged by the Union government and added that governors and LGs in non-BJP ruled states including in Delhi are indefinitely holding bills, undermining elected governments.

“It is a foregone conclusion that democracy in India is suffering from blows every single day. The interface of State Governments and their Governors/Lt. Governors has effectively become a battlefront where a silent war is being waged by the Union Government,” Kejriwal said.

“Governors/ Lt. Governors are wilfully undermining democratically elected state governments, and obstructing administration as per their whims and fancies. They have become the face of the deepening chasm between the Union and the States run by non-BJP governments,” he added.

Kejriwal explained that the situation in Delhi “is further exacerbated” since the LG has regularly meddled with the democratic mandate of Delhi’s legislature, blocked the presentation of Delhi’s budget and has brought the functioning of the Government of NCT of Delhi (GNCTD) to a standstill under the guise of the unconstitutional 2021 amendment to the GNCTD Act. “The actions of the Lt. Governor is hindering the functioning in every area where our Government seeks to make giant strides - be it healthcare, education, water, power, industries, finance or infrastructure,” Kejriwal said.

Tamil Nadu on April 10 urged the Union government and President of India to fix a timeframe for governors to approve Bills given the long standing feud between the state government and governor R N Ravi over more than a dozen bills pending in the Raj Bhavan.

Soon after, the Raj Bhavan informed the Tamil Nadu secretariat that Ravi had approved the bill banning online gambling two days before. This was after the state assembly passed the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Bill, 2022 for the second time on March 23 after Ravi returned the Bill after 131 days. On March 6, the governor said that the state does not have the legal competency to pass a law on the subject after the assembly had first passed the Bill on October 19 last year.

Kejriwal commended Tamil Nadu for its firm stand. “No constitutional functionary should think that they are law unto themselves. It is high time that we unequivocally highlight that India is governed by the rule of law, and not by the writ of the central government and its representatives,” Kejriwal said. “We should collectively resist any action to decimate or obliterate State/ NCT Governments.”