The Rajya Sabha on Monday passed the Delhi Services Bill with a vote; 131 members voted in favour of the bill and 102 against it. The bill will come into force once the President gives her assent as Lok Sabha has already cleared it.
The Opposition wanted to counter the bill by jointly opposing it but government had the majority. Home Minister Amit Shah had dared the Opposition to stop it as the government had the numbers. The bill was a test case for Opposition unity as AAP had made it a pre-condition for joining the coalition, INDIA.
Shah hit out at the AAP government for continuously fighting with the Centre. Replying during the discussion on Delhi Services Bill in Rajya Sabha, Shah said the legislation has been brought to curb encroachment by Delhi government over the rights granted by the Centre.
He said in the past, there has been chief ministers of Congress and BJP in Delhi, but there was never a controversy over transfer posting; the trouble started after 2015 a new government came to power. Shah said such a system always functioned, now, it was being given legislative backing.
Earlier, during the discussion, Opposition benches hit at the centre for trying to usurp the powers of an elected government. All parties had issues whip to their members to be present in the house. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also attended the proceedings. He was brought in on a wheelchair. His presence was ensured as the bill was to be put to vote.
AAP MP Raghav Chadha said that the bill was an insult not only to democracy and the Constitution but also to (BJP leaders) Lal Krishna Advani, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Madan Lal Khurana, Sushma Swaraj and their 40 years of struggle. “The real reason for bringing this bill is that the BJP has lost six elections in Delhi in the last 25 years,” Chadha said.
Shah attacked Congress saying it was opposing the bill as it wanted to appease the AAP due to political gains, whereas the grand old party in the past had brought in a related amendment in the house.
Referring to criticism that the government‘s move was to bring in legislation to overturn the Supreme Court's order, Shah said it was not the case as the judgement had said that the centre can bring legislation for Delhi. He said there were sufficient precedents when the parliament had made laws to counter judgments.
There were several instances of heated exchanges between the treasury and opposition benches. Home Minister said the AAP government wanted to take control of the vigilance department as it had files related to liquor scam and exorbitant expenditure on the CM's residence. He added that the ordinance was brought in to stop them from this control-taking.
Combative Amit Shah also took jibes at the Opposition coalition saying that after the bill is passed, Arvind Kejriwal will again make a u-turn. He also questioned the alliance between the Left parties and TMC, and JDU and RJD, calling them opportunistic to save their alliance.
The proceedings of the house took a curious turn when four MPs complained that their name has been included in motions against the bill. Shah said this was fraud in the house and it should be investigated.