While the AAP has hailed the Supreme Court verdict on the confrontation between its government and the LG as a “big victory” for the people and democracy, the Delhi BJP said it has been established that the Constitution is the “boss” and there is no room for “anarchism” by the ruling party.
The Arvind Kejriwal-led party also accused the Narendra Modi dispensation of creating “chaos” in the national capital in the last three-and-a-half years, reported PTI.
However, the Congress reportedly said the court’s decision has done away with all possibilities of a “blame game” between the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
The Supreme Court on Wednesday handed a major victory to Delhi’s AAP government in its bitter power tussle with the Centre by ruling that the lieutenant governor (LG) has no independent power to take decisions and is bound by the elected government’s advice.
Soon after the verdict, Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal tweeted, “A big victory for the people of Delhi… a big victory for democracy…”
There were two LGs — incumbent Anil Baijal and his predecessor Najeeb Jung — with whom Kejriwal was at loggerheads. Both Baijal and Jung did not comment on the verdict, the report highlighted.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia termed the judgment as “historic” and recalled the landmark mandate that the people of Delhi had given to the AAP in the assembly elections in February 2015 when the party won 67 of the 70 seats.
“On behalf of the people of Delhi, I want to thank the Supreme Court, and the judges for this historic decision. They have pronounced that the people of Delhi are supreme,” Sisodia told reporters.
“The court has said that people are supreme, elected government will be supreme, and the LG has no power to act arbitrarily (‘LG ke paas manmani karne ki power nahn hai’),” he was quoted as saying.
The judgment by a five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra laid down broad parameters for the governance of the national capital, which has witnessed the power struggle between the Centre and Delhi government since the AAP formed government in 2014, reported PTI.
The “historic mandate” given to a new party was for development, welfare of the people and to facilitate resumption of long-pending works, Sisodia reportedly said.
However, “hurdles” were thrown in the way of the functioning of an elected government through a “wilful interpretation” of the Constitution, he said. “Whether it was the issue of installation of CCTV cameras, ration scheme, transfer and posting (of officials), interference was being created.”
The party’s chief spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj asked whether Prime Minister Modi can revoke three years and five months of chaos in Delhi. “Will Delhi people forgive BJP for ruining 3 years 5 months (sic)?,” he tweeted.