New Delhi: The Lok Sabha passed the ‘Delhi National Capital Territory Government (Amendment) Bill, 2021′ on Monday. Various parties, including the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party, vehemently opposed the bill.
Minister of State for Home Affairs Kishan Reddy while replying to the discussion on the bill said that the opposition’s allegation of interference in the federal structure regarding this bill is wrong. He said that no authority has been given to the Lieutenant Governor, but the passing of this bill will increase the authority of the Lieutenant Governor and strengthen the federal structure and functioning of the Union Territory.
He said that this bill is in accordance with the decision of the Supreme Court which said that Delhi Legislative Assembly does not have full state status and its powers as a Union Territory are limited. There has been a dispute over the rights of governance in Delhi, so we had to go to the court again and again but there is clarity on the rights in this bill and after its passage, the situation will become clear about the rights of the Lieutenant Governor. He said that this bill has been brought for the benefit of the people of Delhi.
G. Kishan Reddy said that Delhi is a Union Territory, hence Delhi Assembly cannot be compared to the Legislative Assembly of other states. He said that in 1991, Delhi was made a Union Territory and its administrative structure was prepared on the basis of Balakrishna Committee. He said that the opposition is making unwarranted accusations on the government by campaigning wrongly. He said that this bill has done away with the ambiguity of rights in Delhi.
During the discussion on the bill, the Congress claimed that through this ‘unconstitutional bill’, the central government is trying to run backdoor rule in Delhi. Initiating the discussion, Manish Tiwari of the Congress said that the BJP and its current government at the center, which once advocated giving full statehood status to Delhi, now want to end the democratic system in Delhi.
Aam Aadmi Party MP Bhagwant Mann in the Lok Sabha accused the Center of violating states’ rights and powering the Delhi government. Mann said that the central government specializes in violating the rights of the states and the same has been done in the introduction of agricultural laws.
