Today we gonna talk About Highly Controversial GNCTD Amendment Bill .
Imagine that I tell you that I am changing the definition of the word 'Government'. From today, 'Government' will have a new definition. "Government" would not mean those politicians elected by you. From today, "Government" would mean our friend Bholu.
You heard that right, an individual whose name is Bholu. whom no one voted for, who never ran for an election from today, he will be your government. You may vote for your party to be in power but it would not make any difference because in reality, the government will be only Bholu
How does it sound?
Isn't it weird?
But in reality, something similar is happening in Delhi.
The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi GNCTD Amendment Bill, 2021 was passed in Lok Sabha on 15th March and in Rajya Sabha on 24th March.
What is in this new Amendment Bill?
This law basically amends the powers of the Delhi government and the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi.
Whose power does law increase and whose does it reduce?
You might have guessed it very easily. The Aam Adami Party and the other opposition parties have said that this bill is a murder of democracy. whereas the BJP's Minister of State for Home Affairs, G. Kishan Reddy has said that this bill does not have anything undemocratic it just tries to solve the problems of power distribution between the Delhi Government and the LG.
Let's see what this bill exactly entails.
This bill is of 5 pages and the top few lines of the 2nd page are the most important.
The expression Government refer to any law made by the Legislative Assembly, shall mean the Lieutenant Governor. LG.
I explained what it means at the beginning of the blog. They are changing the definition of the word 'government'. They are saying that the word 'government' will now mean the LG of Delhi. Not the elected Government of Delhi. A little below in the 4th point, it's mention that the Delhi government
sorry, can't call them Delhi Government because the technical definition of the Delhi Government is now the LG, so I will have to call them the Legislative Assembly. Those politicians whom you have voted to be in power, I'll address them as the Legislative Assembly. The Legislative Assembly cannot make any such rules that concerns day-to-day administration. This means that the day-to-day administrative decisions for Delhi's governance, cannot be taken by the elected politicians.
For example, the odd-even rule by Kejriwal or the doorstep delivery of services, such decisions cannot be taken by the Chief Minister of Delhi any more.
Additionally, it is also mentioned in the bill that any executive actions on 'certain matters' mandatorily requires the opinions of the LG to be considered.
What are 'certain matters'?
It is to be decided and specified by the LG himself. Overall you see, that power is concentrated in the hands of the LG that he is now more powerful than the Chief Minister of Delhi. Interestingly, LG is a post for which there are no elections conducted.
In the state elections of Delhi the Chief Minister is elected not the LG.
The LG is selected by the Central Government. This is why LG is often called the puppet of the Central Government. This is exactly the reason why many people blame the Modi government Claiming that they passed this bill so that they can rule over Delhi indirectly through the LG. In the last few elections, BJP had lost badly in Delhi. Many people believe that BJP is trying to take revenge by making sure that even though they did not win the election they could still be in power indirectly by passing such laws. But some people will argue that Delhi is a State/Union Territorythat had complicated governance ever since the beginning.
Let's get into the history of it. In 1952 Delhi became a state. First Assembly Elections were conducted and Congress won the election. Chaudhary Brahm Prakash Yadav became the first Chief Minister of Delhi. In 1956 the States Reorganisation Act was passed. Because of this Delhi lost its statehood and became a union territory. After this, for many years it remained the same, until 1991. In 1991, the Congress government passed the 69th Constitutional Amendment Act, and Delhi was given a special status. Union Territory of Delhi became the National Capital Territory of Delhi. It was declared that there will be a Lieutenant Governor, a legislative assembly elected by the people, and a Council of Ministers. The elected government will be able to make laws on every matter included in the state list and the concurrent list, except in 3 cases:
land, police, and public order.
The next Assembly Elections in 1993 and was won by BJP. The new Chief Minister was Madan Lal Khurana. Several elections were held after this. Governments came and went and things remained stable till 2014. Before 2014, no one had heard the name of Lieutenant Governor.Very few people knew who was the LG and what did he do. Several years before 2014, BJP's Madan Lal Khurana and Atal Bihari Vajpayee demanded full statehood for Delhi. In 2014's Lok Sabha election's manifesto too, when the Modi Government came into power, BJP had clearly promised in writing, that they want full statehood for Delhi. The Congress leader Sheila Dikshit was Delhi's Chief Minister then and she too demanded full statehood of Delhi. In 2014, Aam Aadmi Party also ran in the elections and their manifested too had the promise of full statehood. It goes to show that all three parties, BJP, Congress and Aam Aadmi Party in all three manifestos, it was written that they want full statehood for Delhi. Quite obviously, the people of Delhi were very happy beacuse all the parties were demanding full statehood for Delhi and full democratic rights and full statehood would be given to Delhi. The people hardly imagined what was going to happen in the future.
In 2015 the BJP government was in power at the Centre and the Aam Aadmi Party had won the elections in the state. This was the first time that anyone heard the name of LG in the country. LG Najeeb Jung had said that he would not send the files related to public order, police, and land to the office of the Chief Minister, because those were the reserved subjects. You may say that it was justifed as per the 1991 Constitutional Amendment that had decided that these 3 matters would be out of control of the Delhi Government But the matter did not end here, friends. After this, the Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, launched a 24/7 helpline against corruption. The anti-corruption helpline 1031.
The LG interfered in the situation and claimed that the Anti Corruption branch was under the jurisdiction of the LG. The Anti-corruption helpline that worked efficiently for a few months, The anti-corruption branch stopped taking action based on it after LG took control . The anti-corruption helpline basically became useless. But it didn't stop here either. In 2015, the home ministry issued a notification that the 'services' sector would also be under the jurisdiction of the LG.
The decisions taken by the government was being blocked by the LG. In June 2015 Manish Sisodia had said that he wants to increase the agriculture tax, but the LG put a stay on it. Arvind Kejriwal said that on the alleged CNG Fitness scam of Sheila Dixit, he wanted to set up a commission of enquiry the home ministry of the central government termed it legally invalid. That Delhi government did not have the power to do it. Obviously because of the increased friction the government could not work at all.
The matter went to the High Court. In 2016, the Delhi High Court adjudged the notification by the Home Ministry to be correct and the complete control of all the matters in Delhi was to be with the LG.
The AAP protested against it and went on hunger strike outside the residence of the LG They also approached the Supreme Court.
While this matter was discussed in the Supreme Court, the government was almost dysfunctional during the period. There were regular protests and nearly no work was done. On 4th July 2018, the Supreme Court passed its judgement. It was over 100 pages. In short, this judgement said that except police, public order, and land, the LG does not have any independent decision-making power. All the powers lie with the elected government of Delhi. The matter was clear cut after the Supreme Court judgement
about who held how much power. After this judgement, the story continued smoothly and there weren't any problems in the functioning of the Delhi government until This new bill was passed. Friends, do recall the promise of BJP where they wanted full statehood for Delhi. It was written in their manifesto. Instead of fulfiling the promise in their manifesto, this new bill acts completely against it.
The little statehood it had, is also being taken away from Delhi.
When the people of Delhi will vote in an election once this becomes an Act, the vote will basically be useless.
The voting power of the people is being taken away. Many people are looking at this issue as Aam Aadmi Party versus BJP. But in reality, this issue does not have anything to do with any political party.
This issue is simply about our democratic rights. Taking away the powers from government elected by the people, and giving it to someone who is not elected by a single person,
What kind of a democracy is this?
Our country's Democratic Index and Freedom Ranking are falling rapidly.
I talked about it in several blogs. I will not be surprised if next year this rating and democracy index
fall down further. When the government is taking such decisions.
Some of you Reading this blog will think,
"This guy is back at it again, talking against Modi, criticizing him, spreading so much negativity, does he have nothing better to do?"
What can I say, friends?
I do not have a secret wish to always make a blog that talks about negative things. But the condition of the country today is such that one after the other the government is taking such the decisions, that makes your life difficult. Your freedom, your rights, are being taken away and the international image of the country is falling pathetically. With the increased petrol prices that rob you, or with the new IT laws that take away your privacy. The democratic right to protest of the farmers are being taken away And in some states, such as Bihar, some laws are being passed under whose authority the police can arrest you without a warrant. Every small step is eroding the democracy of the country bit by bit. And maligning the international image of the country. I consider it a patriotic duty to speak out against such issues. Some people might be irritated, especially those that are choosing to be blind. Ignoring all these issues in the name of "positivity". But ignoring these issues will not improve the country. By ignoring these issues you are supporting the atrocities. Supporting the downfall of the country.
This is why it is very important to raise these issues and protest against them. If our country were really a dictatorship, you wouldn't get to make any blogs.
Guys, to these people I would like to say that Democracy and Dictatorship are not like switches
Turn it on and Democracy turns into Dictatorship immediately, and when switched off, it's back to Democracy. Democracy and Dictatorship is a spectrum. Think of them as stairs. Every small step towards the wrong direction, leads you down the stairs, step by step, towards dictatorship. Historically, dictators of the world slowly and legally established dictatorships. When the British raj was ruling India, did they call themselves dictators? They did not think of themselves as dictators. But slowly they made laws like the Rowlatt Act which was terribly against the citizens of the country. Because of which they can be called Dictators. Similarly, does Putin call himself a dictator in Russia? Of course not! Instead, he brought in such constitutional amendments in the parliament which were passed legally and because of which he became a dictator. The one question that might have is: what is the solution to all this?
In my opinion, the next course would be, in the situation, that the AAP approaches Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court will take its time to make a decision. From the past judgements, it should be very clear What should the Supreme Court decide, constitutionally and democratically. But will the Supreme Court actually give that judgement? It is to be seen. It should also be noted here, how time and again such laws are being passed which are against democracy And time and again they are sent to court. And the time of the courts is wasted.
I hope that you found this blog informative. If you liked it, please share the blog.
So that I can continue making such informative blogs for you.
Let's meet in the next blog.
Thank you very much.
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