Delhi Services Bill Passed In Lok Sabha, Opposition Walks Out

New Delhi:

The centre’s bill on control of services in Delhi has been passed in the Lok Sabha. The opposition MPs walked out of the house just after the Lok Sabha cleared the bill, after a day of heavy exchange of arguments and counterpoints.

Home Minister Amit Shah defended the government’s bill to override a Supreme Court order on who controls bureaucrats in the national capital.

“This ordinance refers to the order of the Supreme Court which says parliament has the right to make laws on any issue related to the National Capital Territory of Delhi. There are provisions in the Constitution that allow the centre to make laws for Delhi,” Mr Shah said, referring to the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023.

Before the bill was passed, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweet the bill only sought to “enslave” the people of Delhi.

“Today I heard Amit Shah ji speaking in Lok Sabha on the bill which snatches away the rights of the people of Delhi. They do not have a single valid argument to support the bill… They also know that they are doing wrong. This bill is a bill to enslave the people of Delhi. This is a bill that makes them helpless and helpless. INDIA will never let this happen,” Mr Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi before the bill was passed.

आज लोक सभा में अमित शाह जी को दिल्ली वालों के अधिकार छीनने वाले बिल पर बोलते सुना। बिल का समर्थन करने के लिये उनके पास एक भी वाजिब तर्क नहीं है। बस इधर उधर की फ़ालतू बातें कर रहे थे। वो भी जानते हैं वो ग़लत कर रहे हैं।

ये बिल दिल्ली के लोगों को ग़ुलाम बनाने वाला बिल है। उन्हें…

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) August 3, 2023

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief’s tweet alluded to Mr Shah’s statement in parliament that the BJP and the Congress ruled the national capital without any confrontation, but problems arose only in 2015 when a government came that had no intention to serve but only to fight with the centre.

The AAP-led Delhi government has been fighting a war against the centre over the control of Group-A officers in the National Capital Territory (NCT) administration.

In May, the centre made an ordinance that overturned the Supreme Court judgment handing over control of “services” in the NCT administration to the Delhi government. That ordinance was overwritten by the bill.