The postponement of the mayoral polls and the Delhi High Court reprimanding the AAP-led government for placing “political interest above national interest” while hearing non-supply of notebooks to MCD schools sparked a fresh round of political and constitutional stand-off between the Lieutenant Governor and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the national capital.
Both developments again brought forth the practical challenges the AAP’s Delhi government is facing in dealing with issues of governance and service delivery, with the Delhi chief minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal in jail in connection with the Delhi liquor policy case.
The AAP took out a demonstration on Saturday accusing the BJP of stopping a Dalit’s son from becoming the mayor. The third term of the Delhi mayor is reserved for the SC candidate. “The BJP conspired with the LG of Delhi to cancel the mayoral polls as they knew the AAP would win with a huge margin,” the AAP leaders said.
The protests were held in the backdrop of the postponement of mayoral and deputy mayoral polls by the LG on Thursday on the grounds that “he did not deem it appropriate to exercise his powers as Administrator to appoint the Presiding Officer in the absence of inputs from the chief minister”. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on March 21 and is presently in judicial custody.
The civic polls were scheduled to be held on Friday and the postponement led to the adjournment of the MCD house where members of both the BJP and the AAP exchanged barbs. While the AAP councillors blamed the saffron party for its “anti-Dalit” mindset, the BJP accused the AAP of supporting corruption. The appointment of a Presiding Officer for the mayoral poll was a point of contention last year as well. The LG had appointed BJP councillor Satya Sharma as the Presiding Officer, whose decisions were challenged by the AAP and the matter had reached the Supreme Court. Eventually, the AAP’s Shelly Oberoi had won by a 150-116 margin. The AAP argues that when the advice of the CM was not taken last year, why is it being demanded now?
In another setback for the AAP, while hearing the case of non-supply of books and stationery to students of more than 2 lakh MCD schools despite the beginning of the new session, the Delhi High Court on Friday slammed the government for keeping political interest above national interest.
The bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet P.S. Arora observed, “It is your choice that the CM will continue despite being in jail. We have not said so. You are forcing us to go down a street that we have been avoiding.” “It is the personal call of the chief minister if he wants the administration to be paralysed,” the bench remarked.
The observations gave a fresh salvo to the BJP to target the AAP-led Delhi government. Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva on Friday said, “Several files are pending with the CM and his ministers, which is bringing the administration to a standstill.” The AAP, on the other hand, said that MCD’s work stopped due to the non-formation of a standing committee as the LG “unilaterally and illegally chose to nominate and appoint 10 alderman to the municipal corporation without the aid and advice of the elected government.”
Sanjiv Ranjan, assistant professor at the Delhi University said, “The policy executions like distribution of books and daily chores of government functioning is being hampered which cannot be ignored. The Delhi High Court’s remarks need to be respected by the AAP.” Ranjan feels that the AAP may be facing internal issues in decision-making and is battling practical challenges that the legal experts warned of.
“The recent inclusion of Sunita Kejriwal in campaigning is a reflection of indecision and may lead to undue friction among party leaders,” Ranjan added.
Under Article 239-AB of the Constitution, the President can suspend the government if the LG is convinced that a situation has risen “in which the administration of the NCT cannot be carried on in accordance to the provisions under Article 239AA.”