Oppn slams govt over Delhi Ordinance bill; seeks to know urgency behind move

New Delhi, Aug 3 (IANS) Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Thursday attacked the Centre for bringing the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill 2023 in Parliament. 

Speaking against the bill, he sought to know from the government the urgency behind promulgating the ordinance within six days of the Supreme Court deciding in favour of the Delhi government in the tussle over controlling bureaucrats. 

He said the opposition has doubts because if a bill taking away the elected government's powers can be brought for Delhi, then the Centre may "attack" other states too. 

"If you think scams are happening in Delhi, you have so may agencies like ED and CBI. Was it necessary to bring such a bill because of the alleged scams," Chowdhury asked. 

In a sarcastic remark, Chowdhury said he couldn't believe his ears that Home Minister Amit Shah had praised former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. 

"I couldn't believe whether it was day or night when I heard our Amit Shah ji praising Jawaharlal Nehru. I thought I should run up to him and put a sweet in his mouth. Because praise for Nehru and the Congress from his mouth was a pleasant surprise for me," the Congress MP said. 

He was referring to Shah's comments while initiating the discussion on the bill, where he claimed that Nehru, Sardar Patel, C Rajagopalachari and even BR Ambedkar were against Delhi getting full statehood. 

Chowdhury, however, was interrupted by Shah who said he had not praised Nehru. 

"I have not praised Pandit Nehru. I have simply quoted what he has said. If they want to consider this as a praise, I have no objection to that." 

Chowdhury retorted: "You take the support of Nehru whenever you need it. If you had done this all through, we wouldn't have had to see (the events in) Manipur and Haryana. This is Delhi and it is our dil (heart)."

Chowdhury even indirectly attacked BJD MP Pinaki Misra, who had while indicating his party's support to the bill on August 1, has cited the Supreme Court ruling, saying Parliament was fully competent to frame laws on Delhi. 

The Congress MP said that some "flamboyant and erudite" member had supported the bill. 

"We may not be as flamboyant as them, but we know that this bill will hurt the federal structure of the nation," he said. 

DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran also spoke against the bill, and attacked the regular interferences by governors in the affairs of states. 

He said that the Centre's "frustration" of not being able to win in Delhi since the past 25 years was visible behind bringing the bill, which restricts the powers of the Delhi government. 

Maran said that this frustration was forcing the Centre to unleash its allies like the ED and CBI on the opposition. 

He cautioned the Centre not to make devils out of governors. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi sought Maran's apology for his remarks and amid verbal spats between DMK members and the treasury benches, the DMK members staged a walkout. 

Trinamool Congress leader Kalyan Banerji said that the bill was "malicious legislation". 

He added that people's mandate should be respected, which the bill seeks to destroy.