A war of words broke out between the MLAs of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the issue of services in the Delhi Assembly on Monday.
AAP MLAs including Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia lashed out at the BJP-led Centre for “making a mockery of the Constitution” by allegedly snatching matters related to services from the elected AAP government and bringing it under the purview of the Lieutenant-Governor.
During a discussion on the topic, Mr. Sisodia expressed displeasure over the Centre “forsaking public interest” and “toying around” with senior officials posted in the Higher Education Department because of which, he added, lakhs of students were bearing the brunt.
‘Deck of cards’
“The Central government is playing with the future of 6 lakh children of Delhi by repeatedly transferring senior officers after unconstitutionally stanching away the Services Department from the Kejriwal government,” Mr. Sisodia alleged.
“The BJP Central government is playing musical chairs with the elected government. Officers are being shuffled like a deck of cards. The higher education sector in Delhi is under threat because of the Centre’s tyranny,” the Deputy Chief Minister added.
Mr. Sisodia also said that the admissions in Delhi government-run universities were under way but no one had been appointed to the post of Director of Higher Education since the previous director was transferred 22 days ago.
Frequent transfers
AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged that junior engineers employed by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi were allowed to remain in the same post for years but the principal secretary of the Higher Education Department got “transferred every other day”.
“Nine principal secretaries and seven directors have been changed in the Department of Training and Technical Education,” Mr. Bharadwaj alleged. Training his guns at the L-G, Mr. Sisodia said since the L-G was a representative of the Centre, any failures or lapses on his part were also failures of the Central government.
BJP responds
Mr. Sisodia’s allegations against the Centre and the L-G were rebutted by Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri.
Mr. Bidhuri said the Services Department was currently under the L-G and the legal dispute between the Delhi government and the Centre over administrative services was pending in the Supreme Court.
Till the time the apex court decides on the matter, Mr. Bidhuri added, the authority of transfers and postings of officials will remain with the L-G. “The Delhi government should act with restraint and respect in this matter as the L-G is working to bring about reforms in the city,” Mr. Bidhuri said.
Mr. Bidhuri added that the recently appointed L-G, V.K. Saxena, was working as the “guardian” of the city’s residents and that accusing Mr. Saxena of abuse of authority showed the “narrow-mindedness of the AAP government.”
“The L-G is not sitting in his AC room, but holding meetings with various departments. He has suspended DDA’s officers on charges of corruption,” Mr. Bidhuri said.
