Will the new central government bill leave Arvind Kejriwal as the chief minister?

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Will the new central government bill leave Arvind Kejriwal as the chief minister?

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Once again, a situation of confrontation between the Center and the Delhi government seems to be forming.

The Union Home Ministry on Monday introduced a bill in the Lok Sabha that gives more powers to the Lieutenant Governor (LG), Lieutenant Governor.

The Bill gives several discretionary powers to the Lieutenant Governor, which is also applicable in the case of laws passed by the Delhi Legislative Assembly.

The proposed law ensures that before the decision of the Council of Ministers (or Delhi Cabinet) is implemented, they should be ‘given the necessary opportunity’ for the opinion of the Lieutenant Governor.

This means that before applying any law to the Cabinet, it will be necessary to take the ‘opinion’ of the Lieutenant Governor. Earlier, after passing the law from the Legislative Assembly, it was sent to the Lieutenant Governor.

In 1991, Delhi was given the status of a Union Territory through Article 239AA of the Constitution. Under this law, the Legislative Assembly of Delhi has the power to legislate, but it cannot do so in the case of public order, land and police

Collision may increase from center

The confrontation between Delhi and the central government is nothing new. The Aam Aadmi Party government of Delhi has challenged many administrative matters related to the national capital of the BJP-ruled central government.

On Monday, the National Capital Territory Government of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2021, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G.D. Kishan Reddy presented.

The Bill proposes amendments in Articles 21, 24, 33 and 44 of the 1991 Act.

The statement of the Ministry of Home Affairs said that Article 44 of the 1991 Act does not provide any structural mechanism for effective functioning in a timely manner.

The statement said, “Also the picture is not clear on which proposals or matters have to be sent to the lieutenant-governor before issuing any order.”

Article 44 of the 1991 Act states that all the decisions of the Lieutenant Governor, which shall be taken on the advice of their ministers or others, will have to be mentioned in the name of the Lieutenant Governor. That is, in a way, it is being understood that through this the Lieutenant Governor has been defined as the Government of Delhi.

The Aam Aadmi Party government of Delhi has accused the BJP of undermining the powers of the Delhi government.

At the same time, BJP says that after the Supreme Court verdict on Delhi government and LG in 2018, the proposed bill will limit the ‘unconstitutional functioning’ of the Aam Aadmi Party-ruled government.

What has the Supreme Court said on its functioning?

The matter of work between LG and the Government of Delhi has gone to court. On July 4, 2018, the Supreme Court found that the Cabinet had an obligation to ‘inform’ LG about its decision and their ‘no consent is mandatory’.

In the order dated 14 February 2019, the Supreme Court had said that LG is bound by the advice of the Cabinet due to legislative powers, he can take a different route from them only on the basis of Article 239AA.

According to this article, if LG has differences on any opinion of the Cabinet, then he can take it to the President. The court said that LG will accept the decision of the President in this matter.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has tweeted, “After dismissing the people of Delhi, BJP (8 seats in the assembly, 0 in the MCD by-election) is trying to reduce the powers of the elected government through a bill in the Lok Sabha today. “The bill is contrary to the decision of the constitutional bench. We strongly condemn the BJP’s unconstitutional and anti-democracy move.”

After this, in the next tweet, he wrote, “The bill says- 1. For Delhi, LG will mean ‘Government’. Then what will an elected government do? 2. All files will go to LG. This 4.7.18 of the Constitutional Bench It is against the decision that says that files will not be sent to LG, the elected government will take all the decisions and then send a copy of the decision to LG. “

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia tweeted that “BJP’s manifesto before elections says that Delhi will be made a full state. Winning the election says that LG will be the only government in Delhi.”

The bill has also been opposed by Omar Abdullah, former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. Omar Abdullah retweeted the tweet opposing Arvind Kejriwal, writing, “In 2019, the Aam Aadmi Party supported the decision of the Center on Jammu and Kashmir, in which all the rights of the state were taken. Despite this, I oppose the Central Government’s bill, which is weakening the powers of the elected government of Delhi. Delhi should get full statehood and power should remain in the hands of the elected government and not with LG. ”

AAP got the support of Congress

The Delhi Congress has also raised objections to the proposed bill. It says that this will not only reduce the powers of the Delhi government, but it is a direct attack on the power of the people of Delhi who have elected the government through the democratic process.

Former MLA and Congress leader Anil Bhardwaj said in a press conference that if this bill passes, it will be a ‘black day’ for Delhi and it will be a ‘murder of democracy as it clearly violates the basic principle of the constitution. Does.

He said that if this bill is passed, then BJP will sit on the back seat and run the government through LG and Delhi government will have to take permission for administrative work every day.

Delhi Congress says that it will protest against this bill on 17 March at Jantar Mantar.

At the same time, he wondered that the Union Cabinet had approved this bill on February 1, then why did not Chief Minister Kejriwal raise his voice against it.

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