In a veiled attack on Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said to become the Prime Minister, a person will have to contest parliamentary elections, and not the Delhi Assembly polls.
“When you fight the panchayat election and ask for powers of Parliament, it cannot be fulfilled constitutionally. When you fight the election of MLA or to claim the post of Chief Minister of Delhi, you have to know that it is not a State but a Union Territory. You can have any dream, but the dream can be fulfilled only based on which election you fight,” Mr. Shah said in the Rajya Sabha, replying to the debate on the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023.
“If you dream to become Prime Minister, then you will have to contest the parliamentary election and cannot fulfil your dream by contesting the MLA election of Delhi,” he added.
The Rajya Sabha later passed the contentious Bill that gives the Central government control over bureaucrats in the Delhi government.
The Home Minister said AAP wants to enjoy the powers of a full State and this is why the party was opposing the Bill. “We don’t need power because the people of India have already blessed us with that. We have brought this amendment to prevent encroachment of power,” Mr. Shah said. Attacking the Opposition parties’ alliance, INDIA, the Home Minister said that the 26 parties have come together because they know that they cannot achieve anything electorally as individual parties.
‘AAP in Cong. lap’
Training his guns on the Congress, the Home Minister said that AAP is sitting on the lap of the same Congress party which originally introduced the provisions that are included in the Bill. “Just to appease AAP, the Congress is opposing its own laws ” Mr. Shah said.
