The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023 through voice vote with Union Home Minister Amit Shah taking a dig at the Opposition saying their priority is to merely “save their alliance”.
Shah lashed out at the Opposition bock – Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) – saying they participated with full strength to oppose the Delhi services bill, forgetting their concerns about Manipur in the process.
The Bill, which was to replace the ordinance for control of services in Delhi, was passed by a voice vote after a walkout by members of I.N.D.I.A alliance. Amid high drama, lone AAP MP Sushil Kumar Rinku was suspended from the remainder of the Monsoon Session by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla after he threw some papers on the chair while standing in the Well of the House.
In his reply to the debate, Shah said Opposition parties did not take part in the debate on any Bill passed in the House and kept protesting on their demands over the debate on the Manipur situation.
Pointing towards the Opposition benches, he asked what had changed that they were taking part in the bill concerning Delhi.
“It is good to see that today, after so many days of disruptions, whatever may have been the compulsions, all Opposition parties forgot about their protests on Manipur and demand for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s presence in the House, and came together to participate in the discussion on the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill,” Shah said in his response to the discussion on the Bill.
“The Opposition’s priority is to save their alliance. The Opposition is not worried about Manipur…Everyone is talking about the rights of a state. But which state? Delhi is not a state but a Union Territory…The Parliament has the right to make laws for Delhi…,” Shah contended.
Since it is a Bill whose passage will see the exit of AAP from their INDIA alliance, all the Opposition parties came together to save the alliance, he said, adding that prior to this Bill, the Opposition did not allow the House to function and nine important bills had to be passed in the din.
He said Delhi was never a full-fledged state and it was necessary to bring the bill “as rules were needed to be framed since rules were not being followed”.
The Centre, he added, had the rights to frame rules for Delhi.
The Union Home Minister criticised the AAP government in Delhi, saying it only wanted bureaucratic control over its officials as they were concerned about getting exposed and their misdeeds coming out in the open.
Earlier, slamming the INDIA for extending support to the AAP in its fight against the Centre over the Delhi services Bill, the Union home minister asserted that even after the formation of the Opposition alliance, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will come to power again with full majority in the next year’s Lok Sabha’s polls.
Shah was speaking in the Lok Sabha as the House took up the Bill for consideration and passage.
The home minister made an appeal to the Opposition MPs to “think about Delhi, not the alliance”. “I request all the parties not to support or oppose any Bill or Act just for getting the support of any party. This type of politics should not be done. There are various ways to form an alliance. Acts and Bills are tabled in the country’s interest.”
Addressing the Opposition directly, he further said, “You only think about your alliance. For you, it does not matter if anything happens in Delhi, or if a minister does anything. You do not think about corruption. You have to support because you have to form an alliance. I request the members of the Opposition to think about Delhi, don’t think about the alliance. Even after they (the opposition) formed an alliance, Narendra Modi will become PM again with a full majority. So, don’t sacrifice the people’s welfare for your alliance, because there is no use of it. People are watching everything,” Shah said.
Shah took a jibe at the Congress ‘suggesting’ the party to ‘do the right thing’ and said that the AAP will not enter into an alliance once the Bill on Delhi services is passed. “I have tabled the Bill before the House and want that a discussion should take place with neutrality. I want to say to Congress, that they (AAP) will not be part of your alliance once the Bill will be passed. So, please do whatever is right,” Shah added..
Coming down heavily on the Opposition alliance, he said it will not get people’s support merely by forming a bloc. “If you think that to form the alliance, you will get the support and faith of the people, so there is nothing like that. You got their faith, but the way the UPA government worked in the last 10 years of its tenure and committed the corruption of 12 lakh crore, that is why they (UPA) are sitting there (in Opposition) and I am saying it again that you are supporting the Delhi government over the ordinance just for your alliance, then people are watching this and you have to pay for this in the next elections,” he added.
Speaking about the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023, the minister said the Delhi government is opposing the Bill to hide its ‘corruption’.
“Problem is not with the rights of transfer postings, but they (AAP) want to hide their corruption after taking the control of vigilance,” he added.
The Bill, empowers the Central government to make rules in connection with the affairs of the government of National Capital Territory of Delhi including the functions, terms and other conditions of service of officers and employees.
Asserting that this legislation is good for the country, the home minister said it should be opposed or supported for the good of the country or Delhi instead of for the sake of the alliance.
“There are many ways to form new alliances. Bills and Acts are for the good of the country. It should be opposed or supported for the good of the country or Delhi…One should not think in a way that we have to support while being in opposition because we have to form an alliance,” he said.
Moving the Bill in the Lok Sabha, Amit Shah said there are provisions in the Constitution to allow the Centre to make laws for Delhi. He the administrative arrangement in Delhi was working fine under various governments until a new party came to power in the national capital in 2015.
Taking a veiled dig at AAP, he said the aim of the party is not to work for people but to “fight” with the Centre.
He also targeted Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over alleged corruption in the renovation of bungalows.
“In the year 2015, a party came to power in Delhi whose only motive was to fight, not serve…The problem is not getting right to do transfer postings, but getting control of the vigilance department to hide their corruption like building their bungalows,” Shah said.
With AAP a member of the I.N..D.I.A bloc of Opposition parties, Shah said they should support the bill on the basis of what is good for Delhi and not on any other consideration.
He said Delhi being the national capital has special provisions in the Constitution.
The ordinance on the control of services in Delhi was promulgated in May days after the Supreme Court verdict on the issue.
Kejriwal has been seeking support from Opposition parties against the bill, especially in the Rajya Sabha.
Parties of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A) are opposing the bill.