Government on Friday justified its decision to keep the Delhi Assembly under suspended animation saying all options are open as more than four years and ten months of Assembly still remain after AAP government’s fall.
Minister of State for Home R.P.N. Singh said this in the Rajya Sabha as he laid the supplementary demand for grants, 2013-14 and Vote on Account for 2014-15 for Delhi.
The BJP, however, launched a blistering attack on Congress for not dissolving the Assembly even after bringing the state under President Rule and for supporting Arvind Kejriwal to form a government.
Citing the famous judgement of S.R. Bommai case, Mr. Singh said the Delhi Assembly was not dissolved as demanded by Arvind Kejriwal’s party as the government fell after 60 days and options for formation of any alternative government are open.
Noting that the government formed by Mr. Kejriwal fell after just 60 days, Mr. Singh wondered should fresh elections be ordered after just 60 days after poll in any state.
“All options are open for this. You have also formed governments in past. Minority governments have been formed in the country many times. You have also formed,” the minister said adding that the government does not want unnecessary burden of fresh elections on people in such a short time.
BJP leader M. Venakaiah Naidu, however, apprehended that such a scenario could encourage horse trading. He wondered that when the BJP has already refused to form a government and AAP has stepped down, how a government could be formed even when Congress has only eight MLAs.
Soon after Mr. Singh tabled the Delhi budget, Dharmendra Pradhan (BJP) said President’s Rule was imposed in Delhi and the Supplementary demands for Grants is being tabled in the House only because Congress propped a government which did not have majority.
“It is your handiwork. When elections happened in Delhi, nobody got a mandate. People of Delhi voted out Congress, which was ruling the state for last fifteen years, did not give majority to any party and BJP emerged as single largest party. We chose to sit in Opposition. We did not act in an opportunistic manner.
“Congress befriended a party with half mandate because of the fear of BJP and Narendra Modi. Because they (Congress) were scared after losing ground in four states, they supported an unconventional party to form government...we condemn the opportunistic politics of the Congress,” he said even as he supported the Demands for Grants for Delhi to avert a Constitutional crisis.
His colleague and senior BJP leader Chandan Mitra asked why the central government does not hold elections for Delhi Assembly along with Lok Sabha polls.
Vasanthi Stanley (DMK) said Supreme Court’s decision in Mr. Bommai case is very important for the federal structure of the country because the central government had imposed President’s Rule in many states before that decision and DMK’s governments were also dismissed twice.
She, however, said the minister was referring to Mr. Bommai case in an altogether different context.
The Supreme Court, had in its judgement in Bommai vs Union of India case delivered in March 1994, sharply limited the constitutional power vested in the Central government to dismiss a state government.
