Team News Riveting
New Delhi, August 7
The Upper House of Parliament on Monday passed the controversial Delhi Services Bill despite bitter resistance by the Opposition.
After an exhaustive and bitter debate, the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023, was passed by 131 to 102 votes, with the support from Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal and Andhra Pradesh’s ruling YSR Congress.
Speaking against the bill, Aam Aadmi Party’s Raghav Chadha asked the BJP to follow their own leaders Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani who wanted full-fledged statehood for Delhi. The BJP, he alleged, is reacting to the fact that they have lost multiple consecutive elections in Delhi.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who moved the bill, said the Delhi services bill did not violate the Supreme Court judgment that said the elected government had been the boss in Delhi. The Bill essentially gives the same powers to the Delhi government that was there during the Congress rule, Shah said, adding that the Congress is now opposing the bill “to appease the Aam Aadmi Party”. “They are now sitting in AAP’s lap,” the Union Home Minister added.
The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023 — which replaces an Ordinance that wrested control of bureaucrats from the Delhi government — has already passed the Lok Sabha test. It was presented in the Upper House today for debate and vote.
The Aam Aadmi Party, which would be most affected by the proposed law, has been campaigning against it for weeks. It rallied the Opposition parties against the Bill, which was expected to be tabled in the ongoing monsoon session.
