Delhi services bill crosses Lok Sabha hurdle

The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023, which will replace an ordinance promulgated for handling the transfers and postings of senior officers in the city government.

Amid a walkout by opposition parties, the bill sailed through the lower house of Parliament easily as the BJP-led NDA has the majority. YSRCP and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) also supported the bill which will be tabled in Rajya Sabha now where the NDA does not have majority.

Initiating the debate on the bill, Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched attacks on the opposition parties for joining hands against the Centre over the bill. He said Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will ditch the I.N.D.I.A bloc once the Delhi Services Bill is passed by the Parliament. He urged the opposition to think about Delhi and not any alliance.

Shah made it clear that the central government has the power to make laws on Union territories and Delhi, being a Union Territory, the Centre enjoys full rights to make rules also.

He alleged that the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government in Delhi has not been not functioning within rules and it is even not convening assembly sessions regularly. Even the cabinet meeting of the Delhi government is not convened regularly, he said.

“The bill is constitutionally valid and it is for the benefit of the people of Delhi,” he said.

Shah said that the AAP is opposing the bill because it wants to hide the truth of the bungalow worth crores by gaining control over vigilance.

“The problem with the Bill is not about control of transfer and postings of officers, but to hide the truth of the bungalow worth crores by gaining control over vigilance and to hide the truth about the corruption that has taken place,” he said.

With inputs from News18