Delhi Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said the Union government may also strip other states of their autonomy and run them through governors Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has written a letter to leaders of non-Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) parties urging them to keep the discussion on the ordinance giving the control of Delhi’s bureaucracy to the Union government-appointed lieutenant governor (LG) on top of the agenda for their meeting in Patna on Friday. He urged them to make their stand on the matter clear during the meeting convened for preparing a common ground ahead of the 2024 national polls. He reiterated the ordinance can be replicated. Kejriwal said the Union government may strip other states of their autonomy and run them through the governors and the LGs. Kejriwal earlier on Tuesday said he will raise the issue of the ordinance at the Patna meeting and discuss how the Union government may replicate it. He added he hoped Congress is asked to clear its stand on the ordinance at the meeting. In the letter dated June 20, he said if the bill to replace the ordinance gets passed in the Parliament, it will be the end of democracy in Delhi. “The people of Delhi will have no power to choose the government they desire. The central government will directly govern Delhi through the Lieutenant Governor.” He added regardless of which party the people elect, they will have no power. “After Delhi, one by one, democracy will be abolished in all states, and eventually, the Prime Minister will govern all state governments through Governors and Lieutenant Governors,” Kejriwal said in the letter. Kejriwal called it very important for the non-BJP parties to come together and defeat the ordinance. He said they should not look at it as a Delhi-centric problem. The Union government on May 19 promulgated the ordinance effectively nullifying the May 11 Supreme Court order that reinforced the authority of the elected government in controlling bureaucrats in all but three domains in Delhi. The ordinance provided for creating a National Capital Civil Service Authority and Public Service Commission for transfers and postings of officers.
Over The Last Month, Kejriwal held a Series of Meetings With.
non-BJP leaders for support against the ordinance. In the letter, Kejriwal thanked the parties which have expressed solidarity with Delhi’s people and opposed the “unconstitutional” ordinance. “It would be wrong to assume that such an order can only be imposed in the context of Delhi because Delhi is a half-state.” He added through a similar order, the central government can strip away the subjects on the concurrent list of any full-fledged state. “For example, the central government can completely take away the authority of states over subjects like electricity, education, trade, and other issues through such an order.” He added the central government has experimented with such an order in Delhi. “If the central government succeeds in this experiment, it will then issue similar orders for each non-BJP ruled state one by one, thereby taking away the rights of states over subjects mentioned in the concurrent list. Hence, it becomes extremely crucial for all parties and individuals to come together and ensure that this order is not passed in Parliament in any circumstances.” Parties such as Samajwadi Party, Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal, Trinamool Congress, and Bharat Rashtra Samiti have supported the pushback against the ordinance, which handed back control of Delhi’s administration to the LG. Delhi BJP spokesman Praveen Shankar Kapoor accused Kejriwal of trying to create fear to get support against the ordinance. “Ironically, he has been seeking the support of leaders he once claimed were corrupt and sought probes against them.” He added due to his U-turns, Kejriwal has lost credibility and no one is taking him seriously. “Everyone knows that Delhi is a Union territory with a legislative assembly…powers of the elected government in Delhi have been limited since the formation of the assembly.”