With 131 votes in favour, Rajya Sabha passes Delhi services bill

New Delhi: Rajya Sabha on Monday passed the Delhi services bill with 131 MPs voting in its favour, helping the government complete the parliamentary process for the proposed legislation that saw opposition parties join ranks.

Besides NDA constituents, the BJD and the YSRCP, with nine MPs each, supported the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023. On the other hand, the opposition, which brought a wheelchair-bound former prime minister Manmohan Singh and an ailing Shibu Soren to the House to shore up its numbers, could manage only 102 votes against the Bill.

The 245-member Rajya Sabha has a current strength of 238 and there are seven vacancies.

During a six-hour emotionally charged debate in the House, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the urgency behind first bringing an ordinance and now the Bill was to stop Delhi’s ruling AAP from transferring officials connected to the probe into the Rs 2,000-crore liquor “scam”.

The BJP is in power in several states and does not need to usurp it in Delhi, he said responding to a charge that has been repeatedly levelled by the opposition against the party.

The minister claimed the Bill does not violate the Supreme Court judgement in any manner and seeks to provide efficient and corruption-free governance and protect the rights of citizens of the national capital.

The Supreme Court had on May 11 ruled that the elected government of Delhi has control over services in the national capital, excluding the matters relating to public order, police and land.

On May 19, the Centre promulgated the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023 to create an authority for the transfer and posting of Group-A officers in Delhi.

The Bill, which will replace the ordinance, will now go to the President for her assent before it becomes a law.

“We have not brought this Bill to grab power for the Centre. The Delhi government is trying to encroach on the Centre’s powers and the Bill has been brought to legally stop them from doing so,” Shah said.

“We had to bring this Bill as lawlessness had crept into Delhi’s governance,” he said, adding such an issue never cropped up even when there were opposing governments of the Congress and the BJP at the Centre and in Delhi.

Shah also attacked the Congress saying it was opposing a constitutional amendment it had brought earlier to appease its alliance partners for political reasons.

On the opposition’s charge that the Bill is undemocratic, the home minister hit out at the Congress saying it has no right to lecture on democracy as it had taken away the rights of the common people by imposing the Emergency during which over 3 lakh opposition leaders were jailed.

The GNCTD (Amendment) Bill was passed after motions to send the proposed legislation to a select committee of the House, as well as amendments proposed by opposition members, were rejected by voice vote.

“The motion is adopted and the Bill is passed,” announced Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh after announcing the result of the division of votes sought by opposition members.

Soon after, BJP MPs chanted “Modi, Modi” and thumped desks.

There was a controversy over a motion moved by AAP MP Raghav Chadha with at least four MPs, including BJD’s Sasmit Patra and AIADMK’s M Thambidurai, complaining that their names were included in the proposed select committee on the Delhi services bill without their consent.

Shah said the inclusion of their names without consent was a “fraud” with Parliament and needed to be probed.

On this, Singh said the issue will be probed but did not give the details immediately.

Shah earlier said Delhi did not have full powers of a state and anyone seeking to govern it should consider that.

“If you contest the election in Delhi, just keep in mind that it is not a state but a union territory. If you dream to become the prime minister, then you will have to contest the MP (parliamentary) elections and cannot fulfil your dream by contesting the MLA (assembly) elections in a union territory,” he said.

“They have to change their mindset,” he said, adding those contesting Delhi polls should realise that they have limited powers.

“The AAP wants to enjoy the powers of a complete state and this is why they are opposing the bill. But no one can solve this problem of theirs.

“We don’t need power because the people of India have already blessed us with it. We have brought this amendment to prevent encroachment of power,” Shah said, adding that “using good words does not change the reality that anarchy is being spread”.

“The AAP is sitting in the lap of the same Congress which originally introduced the provisions that are included in the Bill today. The Congress is opposing its own laws just to appease the AAP,” he said.

After independence, the Pattabhi Sitaramayya Committee suggested that Delhi be given complete statehood. However, when the recommendation came before the assembly, leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, C Rajagopalachari, Rajendra Prasad and B R Ambedkar opposed it and said that it would not be appropriate to give Delhi the status of a full-fledged state as it is the national capital and this status has not changed, the minister said.

Shah said the Delhi government neither holds assembly sessions nor cabinet meetings. Only one session of the Delhi Assembly was held and that too was a budget session in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, he said.

“They (AAP government) have time to go to court for transfers and postings of officers but no time to conduct necessary cabinet meetings to introduce 5G technology,” he said.

Targeting the opposition alliance INDIA, Shah said, “What ideology does the opposition talk about? The AAP was formed opposing the Congress but today they stand together.”

He also questioned the coming together of Trinamool Congress and Left parties and RJD and JD(U) as part of the opposition bloc, even though they oppose each other in states.

“They are together because they know that they cannot achieve anything electorally as individual parties. They have united just to show numbers but even then, Modi ji will win the election in 2024,” he said.

Shah also said the government is ready for a discussion on the Manipur issue on August 11 and claimed that it was the opposition that is running away from it.

Earlier in the day, members of the INDIA coalition slammed the Centre in Rajya Sabha over the Delhi services bill, saying the proposed legislation was “unconstitutional” and against the spirit of federalism.