PM Modi 'Backstabbed Delhi': CM Kejriwal Says After Services Bill Passed In RS — Who Said What

Delhi Services Bill: Rajya Sabha on Monday passed the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023 amid uproar by the opposition.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal

Source : Twitter/Aam Aadmi Party

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday lambasted the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Centre as the Rajya Sabha passed the Delhi Services Bill amid heavy uproar by the opposition parties. Kejriwal said that the PM has backstabbed the people of Delhi. Union Home Minister Amit Shah tabled the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023 in the Upper House which was passed with a vote of 131 MPs in support and 102 in against. The bill was passed by the Lok Sabha last week after a four-hour-long debate amid a walkout by Opposition parties on Thursday.

Calling it a "black day", the Aam Aadmi Party national convenor said the Centre has taken away all the rights of the people of Delhi. "They realised that it was difficult to defeat AAP in Delhi, thus tried to grab power through the back door," he added. 

He thanked all those parties who stood against the bill.  

Meanwhile, Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit said, "I hope that (Arvind) Kejriwal will work for Delhi now, not just give unnecessary statements." 

"The central government has the right to work for development in Delhi. The Bill was not against anyone," said Republican Party of India (A) President Ramdas Athawale. 

BJP Delhi chief Virendra Sachdeva also cornered Kejriwal saying, "Kejriwal's statement shows he is perturbed because corruption will now be stopped."

During the discussion on the bill in Rajya Sabha, Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi termed it 'fundamentally anti-democratic'.

"BJP's approach is to control by hook or crook…this bill is completely unconstitutional, it is fundamentally anti-democratic, and it is a front-term assault on the regional voice and aspirations of the people of Delhi. It violates all principles of federalism, all norms of civil service accountability and all models of assembly-based democracy," he added.

Here is what other Parliamentarians said in favour or against the Bill:

• Speaking in favour of the Bill, Bharatiya Janata Party MP Sudhanshu Trivedi said that there was nowhere in the 105-page verdict of the Supreme Court was it mentioned that a law can't be passed with regards to Delhi. "In the Supreme Court verdict of 105 pages, nowhere it is mentioned anything against passing a law on Delhi,…In the Supreme Court order, in paragraphs 86, 95 and 164 F, it is mentioned that the Parliament has all the rights to form a law for Delhi," he said. 
  
  
•  Tearing into the BJP-led Centre, Aam Aadmi Party MP Raghav Chadha termed the bill as "political fraud, constitutional sin, and administrative logjam." 

• "Ordinance can be made during an emergency situation, what emergency situation came up that you had to bring the ordinance just 8 days after the Supreme Court judgment," Chadha said. "They have challenged the majesty of SC," he said, adding "It undermines principle of collective responsibility." 

• Speaking on behalf of Biju Janata Dal, MP Sasmit Patra supported the Bill while saying the party stands "equidistant from BJP and Congress." 
  
  
• Congress MP P Chidambaram questioned the "half-hearted" support by Biju Janata Dal and Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party to the Bill. 
  
  "While I understand full thrust support by BJP, I do not understand half-hearted support by BJP and YSRCP, they know its unconstitutional," said Chidambaram, adding that the BJP will get "spectacular failure".

• On his maiden speech as a member of Rajya Sabha, former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi termed the Bill "perfectly valid". "What is pending before the Supreme Court is the validity of the ordinance, and the two questions referred to the Constitution bench, and that has nothing to do with what is being debated in the House," he said. 

• Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, opposing the Bill said those voting in favour of the Bill will be betraying the country. "You (BJP) have come up with a very dangerous bill and I am here to oppose it," Raut said. "This bill is a direct attack on India's federal structure and murder of democracy," he added.  

• Replying to the discussion in the House, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the bill has not been brought to impose emergency or take away the rights of people, adding Congress has no right to speak on democracy. "We have brought services bill to safeguard rights of people of Delhi," he said.

The bill seeks to replace the ordinance on transfers and postings of senior officers in the Delhi government. Notably, the ordinance was issued by the Centre on May 19, a week after the Supreme Court handed over control of services in Delhi to the elected government led by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, except police, public order, and land.

Earlier, with an aim to corner the government, both the AAP and the Congress have issued whips to their Rajya Sabha MPs to be present in the House for discussion.

"All members of Congress Party in Rajya Sabha are requested to kindly remain present in the House from 11 am onwards till the adjournment of the House on Monday, August 7, 2023, without fail and support the party stand," Jairam Ramesh, the Congress' chief whip in the Upper House said, as quoted by news agency PTI.

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