Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said that the passage of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2021 in Rajya Sabha was a sad day for Indian democracy. Kejriwal said that his party will continue with its ‘struggle to restore power back to people.’
The AAP chief tweeted, “RS passes GNCTD amendment Bill. Sad day for Indian democracy. We will continue our struggle to restore power back to people. Whatever be the obstacles, we will continue doing good work. Work will neither stop nor slow down.”
RS passes GNCTD amendment Bill. Sad day for Indian democracy
We will continue our struggle to restore power back to people.
Whatever be the obstacles, we will continue doing good work. Work will neither stop nor slow down.
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) March 24, 2021
This was after Rajya Sabha on Wednesday passed the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2021 giving primacy to Delhi”s Lieutenant Governor (L-G) over the elected government. The Bill was already passed in the Lok Sabha, where the BJP enjoys an absolute majority.
The Bill was passed by Lok Sabha on Monday amidst strong opposition from the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party which said that the legislation is “unconstitutional”.
The Bill makes it mandatory for the Delhi government to take the opinion of the L-G before any executive action.
Earlier, Kejriwal had to face public ridicule when he took to Twitter to register his outrage over the passage of the Bill in Lok Sabha. Many journalists and activists were quick to remind him about his doublespeak since his party had controversially voted in favour of the downgrading of Jammu and Kashmir from a full state to a union territory. Although the AAP desperately clarified that it had merely voted in favour of the abrogation of Article 370, Janta Ka Reporter shared the speech of Sushil Gupta, AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP, conclusively establishing how Kejriwal’s party had also supported the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir on 5 August 2019.