Addressing supporters at Jantar Mantar on Wednesday, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal appealed to the Central government to take back the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2021, introduced in the Lok Sabha by the latter.
Hundreds of party supporters, MLAs, and Ministers, protested against the Bill at Jantar Mantar.
“People are unhappy that the BJP government has introduced a Bill in Parliament, which says that from now, Delhi government means L-G. Then what will be the meaning of us? What will be the meaning of the people of Delhi? What will be the meaning of the CM and the will of the people? Then why was the election conducted? Then why did people vote? Then there is no meaning of people giving us 62 out of 70 seats,” the AAP chief said.
He said the Supreme Court had said that all powers should be with the government and no file has to go to L-G. “The BJP does not believe in the people, democracy, and Constitution. It does not want to follow the orders of the Supreme Court,” he said.
‘Unfair means’
Mr. Kejriwal said that in the Assembly election in 2015, AAP won 67 out of 70 seats, and in 2020, 62 out of 70 seats and added that in the civic body byelections held recently, the BJP did not win a single seat. “People are rejecting BJP for AAP, but the BJP does not want to accept this fact. They only want to rule Delhi through unfair means,” he said.
“They are doing this across the country, they hold elections and where they cannot win, they dismantle the government. Now that they cannot buy AAP MLAs despite trying, they want to dismantle the government by bringing in a law,” he added.
AAP senior leader Manish Sisodia said that the Bill is not only an act to curtail the powers of the Delhi government, but it is to also stop the Kejriwal model from making progress in Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh, because the BJP is threatened.
Sandeepni Mishra, 9, a Class IV student, who was holding a placard at the protest site, said“Modiji has brought a black law to give more power to the L-G. I have come to protest against it. I attended online class in the morning, but skipped the afternoon session.”
Risal Tabrezi, 40, a businessman from Chhattarpur, said that he is an AAP volunteer and they came to the protest site in two buses arranged by the party. “Kejriwal is the elected Chief Minister and not L-G. Now, the BJP is giving more powers to L-G, which is wrong,” he said.
Many AAP MLAs also came to the protest site with their supporters.
When asked how the Bill will affect him, AAP MLA Praveen Kumar, said that scores of people come to the MLA office daily to address their problems. “Once this Bill is passed, the MLAs won’t have any assurance that they can solve the issues as L-G will have the powers. People go to the MLA office when their sewers are not working, or electricity is down and not to the L-G office. What is the point of them voting for us if they have to rely on the L-G?” he asked.
