The Delhi government will present the 2023-24 budget on Wednesday. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Tuesday that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had given permission for the same.
The CM had a day earlier accused the BJP-led Central government of “hooliganism” for preventing the Delhi government from tabling its budget as per schedule on Tuesday.
Responding to the allegation, the MHA said it hadn’t received a response to the letter sent to the Delhi Chief Secretary on March 17, asking the government to address some budget-related concerns raised by the Lieutenant-Governor.
On Tuesday, the Delhi Assembly passed a resolution seeking an investigation by its Committee of Privileges into the role of the Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary (Finance) and others in delaying the budget presentation.
In response, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said, “If the Finance Minister blames his officials for this, then, I think, the system has collapsed completely.”
The resolution also condemned the Centre’s “high-handedness against two crore people of Delhi, which is unconstitutional, illegal and undemocratic”.
Speaking on the resolution, Mr. Kejriwal said, “[B.R.] Ambedkar would have never thought that the Central government would stop a State’s budget. It’s an attack on the Constitution.”
“The L-G does not have the power to raise any objections. He is bound by the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers on all but three subjects, as per the Supreme Court’s 2018 order,” he said.
The CM said the Delhi Chief Secretary had informed Finance Minister Kailash Gahlot about the MHA letter at 2 p.m. on Monday. He demanded action against the errant officials.
“We responded to all four observations made in the letter. No change was made to the budget… It was about their ego. We touched their feet, stood before them with folded hands and the budget was approved today. What did they gain by this? They are happy that Kejriwal bowed before them,” the CM said.
“I want to tell the Prime Minister that we want to work, not fight, with you. We don’t know politics; we have come here to work,” he said.
BJP hits back
Mr. Bidhuri said the L-G has a constitutional right to raise queries on the budget. He added that the Delhi government had planned a “drama to divert people’s attention away from AAP’s failure in Delhi and Punjab”.
A Raj Niwas source said Mr. Kejriwal is “deliberately making false statements to mislead people”.
“He [Delhi CM] has been saying that the Centre blocked the budget of a State. Delhi is a Union Territory, therefore, it is part and parcel of the government of India. Moreover, the budget has not been blocked,” the source added. “The CM was aware that the L-G had approved the financial statement and made certain observations on March 9, 2023. However, none of the concerns raised was addressed,” the source added.
