New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah did not have a single valid argument in favour of bringing the GNCTD (Amendment) Bill, 2023, and asserted that the Opposition bloc — INDIA — will never let it happen. In his first reaction after the introduction of the bill, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo said that this is a bill to ‘enslave the people of Delhi’.
“Today I heard Amit Shah ji speaking in Lok Sabha on the bill which snatches away the rights of the people of Delhi. They do not have a single valid argument to support the bill… They also know that they are doing wrong. He was just talking nonsense,” Arvind Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi.
“This bill is a bill to enslave the people of Delhi. This is a bill that makes them helpless and helpless. INDIA will never let this happen,” he added.
आज लोक सभा में अमित शाह जी को दिल्ली वालों के अधिकार छीनने वाले बिल पर बोलते सुना। बिल का समर्थन करने के लिये उनके पास एक भी वाजिब तर्क नहीं है। बस इधर उधर की फ़ालतू बातें कर रहे थे। वो भी जानते हैं वो ग़लत कर रहे हैं।
ये बिल दिल्ली के लोगों को ग़ुलाम बनाने वाला बिल है। उन्हें…
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) August 3, 2023
Earlier in the day, Amit Shah said that the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP was opposing the Delhi services bill with the sole intention of ‘hiding its corruption’.
While initiating the debate in Lok Sabha on the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023, he said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress had ruled the national capital without any confrontation, but problems arose only in 2015 when a government came that had ‘no intention’ to serve but only to fight with the Centre.
With opposition questioning the power of Parliament to make laws for the Delhi government, Shah asserted that the Constitution, under Article 239AA, granted such powers.
“The problem with the Bill is not about control of transfer and postings of officers, but to hide the truth of the bungalow worth crores by gaining control over vigilance and to hide the truth about the corruption that has taken place,” Shah said.
He was referring to the renovation of Arvind Kejriwal’s bungalow which had triggered a war of words between the AAP and the BJP.
The Union Home Minister also cautioned the Opposition, which is building a coalition against the BJP-led NDA for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, saying that bills and laws were for the benefit of the people and should be supported or opposed solely for that purpose.
“It is my request to all the parties not to indulge in politics of supporting or opposing legislation just to win elections or gain the backing of some party. There are many ways to build new alliances. Bills and laws are for the benefit of the people. These should be supported or opposed keeping in mind the welfare of the people of Delhi,” Shah said.
Speaking on the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023 in Lok Sabha. https://t.co/1TsV3d64zP
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) August 3, 2023
It is notable that the AAP-led Delhi government has been at loggerheads with the Centre over the control of Group-A officers in the National Capital Territory administration.
In May, the Centre promulgated the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023 that overturned the Supreme Court judgment handing over control of “services” in the NCT administration to the Delhi government.
