On Thursday, August 3, the Lok Sabha passed the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill 2023, after a nearly four-hour long debate, replied to by Union Home Minister, Amit Shah. After the bill was passed, the Opposition, in what is its consistent habit, attacked the Centre for the move. Speaking against the Bill, Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, sought to know from the government the ‘urgency’ behind promulgating the ordinance within six days of the Supreme Court deciding in favour of the Delhi government in the tussle over controlling bureaucrats.
Chowdhury said, ‘The Opposition has doubts because if a bill taking away the elected government’s powers can be brought for Delhi, then the Centre may attack other states too.’ He also asked, ‘If you think scams are happening in Delhi, you have so many agencies like ED and CBI. Was it necessary to bring such a bill because of the alleged scams?’
Taking a dig at Shah, he further said, ‘I could not believe whether it was day or night when I heard our Amit Shah ji praising Jawaharlal Nehru. I thought I should run up to him and put a sweet in his mouth. Because praise for Nehru and the Congress from his mouth was a pleasant surprise for me.’
He was referring to Shah’s comments while initiating the discussion on the bill, where he claimed that Nehru, Sardar Patel, C Rajagopalachari and even BR Ambedkar were against Delhi getting full statehood.
But Shah replied, ‘I have not praised Pandit Nehru. I have simply quoted what he has said. If they want to consider this as a praise, I have no objection to that.’
DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran also spoke against the bill, and attacked the regular interferences by governors in the affairs of states. He said that the Centre’s ‘frustration’ of not being able to win in Delhi since the past 25 years was visible behind bringing the bill, which restricts the powers of the Delhi government.
Maran said that this frustration was forcing the Centre to unleash its allies like the ED and CBI on the opposition. He cautioned the Centre not to make devils out of governors. Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Pralhad Joshi, sought Maran’s apology for his remarks and amid verbal spats between DMK members and the treasury benches, the DMK members staged a walkout.
Trinamool Congress leader, Kalyan Banerji, said that the bill was ‘malicious legislation’. He added that people’s mandate should be respected, which the bill seeks to destroy.
