Home » Politics » Delhi Ordinance Bill Faces Stiff Resistance From Southern Mps In Lok Sabha Tharoor Calls It Shameful

Delhi Ordinance Bill faces stiff resistance from southern MPs in Lok Sabha; Tharoor calls it ‘shameful’

While the YSRCP supported the NDA on the Bill, it was careful to appeal against such a bill for states.

Published Aug 04, 2023 | 12:32 AM ⚊UpdatedAug 04, 2023 | 6:42 AM

File photo of Shashi Tharoor. (Twitter)

The Lok Sabha passed the Government of NCT of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023, otherwise known as the Delhi Ordinance Bill, after half a day of discussion involving noisy scenes.

The debate witnessed a thorough critical analysis of the Bill by southern MPs — especially Shashi Tharoor of the Congress, who represents the Thiruvananthapuram constituency.

Almost all major political parties from South India concurred in their opposition to the bill. The standouts were the YSRCP, which supported it, and the JD(S), that was undecided.

Tharoor thunders

Tharoor used his powerful presentation to dwell deeply on the precarious Centre-state relationships under the BJP-RSS regime.

He also listed the major occasions when the Centre infringed on states’ rights since Narendra Modi became the prime minister.

Warning that the basic structure of the Constitution was in trouble, he recalled the arbitrary way the Union government divested Jammu and Kashmir of its statehood, apart from repealing its special status guaranteed under the Constitution.

“Found it a shameful Bill for many reasons. First and most important is that you are introducing a constitutional amendment without calling it that… How can you do that? Secondly, you have a situation in which a no-confidence motion is pending in the House. While [that is] pending, you bring such a fundamental, substantive policy change. You are not supposed to do that…,” explained the Thiruvananthapuram MP.

“The Bill is really bad in law. It will undo the principle of parliamentary accountability because a minister will no longer be responsible for his officials. After all, the officials will outrank the minister and be able to overrule even the chief minister,” said Tharoor amidst attempts by the ruling benches to silence him.

“It is a disastrous Bill, and we oppose it very strongly…” he continued. Tharoor also termed the Bill “shameful”.

“This Bill is no ordinary piece of legislation. It represents a grave chapter in the history of the Indian Republic seeking to ratify an ordinance that, in many ways, is an assault on our democratic heritage and the spirit of federalism,” he noted.

“In 27 no-confidence motions brought since Independence to this House, no bills were debated and passed before this government did so with two bills in 2018. Therefore such an improper introduction of a substantive policy change, while a no-confidence motion is pending, is against democratic morality,” pointed out Tharoor.

“What we have repeatedly seen under this government is a bold effort to curtail the autonomy of states. The prime minister talks about cooperation, but we are instead witnessing coercive federalism that seeks to centralise all power in the hands of the Central government. And the problem is, it looks as if in the new India, some states will come first if the right party rules them. Others must remain subservient to the political wishes of those in Delhi,” he said.

Also read: Oppn can challenge Modi if it stays united, says Chidambaram

Other voices from Kerala

Dr MP Abdussamad Samadani of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), who represents the Malappuram constituency in Kerala, said: “I have to remind the government that the Supreme Court had held that states are not mere appendages of the Centre.”

He added: “I have to request the government to pay urgent notice to Dr Ambedkar’s December 1952 lecture on conditions precedent for the successful working of democracy.”

RSP leader and Kollam MP NK Premachandran said: “I am questioning the legislative competence of this Bill. The Bill is against the principles of federalism. If an elected government has no administrative and bureaucratic control, then what is the purpose of having a government.”

From Telangana

AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi strongly opposed the Bill.

Referring to Article 123 from 2017, he cited a Supreme Court ruling in Krishna Kumar’s case, emphasising that an ordinance should not be used for oblique purposes or to perpetrate fraud in the constitutional process.

He said the Supreme Court had consistently emphasised that ordinance-making powers are not routine legislative powers and should only be employed in emergent situations, not on mere whims. However, the government appeared to have disregarded this principle, leading to constitutional fraud.

Owaisi also raised concerns about specific sections of the Bill — particularly Section 45, which he said would give disproportionate authority to the Lieutenant Governor and Central government officials, bypassing the elected chief minister and undermining the elected government’s policy decisions.

“A minister must submit his proposal list to Lieutenant Governor. Any other matter of administrative importance with the President may be necessary. This means that before doing anything at all, the ministers will have to seek the permission of Amit Shah, the driving minister at all,” said Owaisi.

Also read: Delhi ordinance a threat to democracy, says Telangana CM

Tamil Nadu dissents

DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran, too, questioned the Bill and the manner in which it was being pushed forward.

When Deputy Speaker Rajendra Agrawal interfered and urged the DMK MP to conclude his speech as his allotted time was over, Maran responded: “Don’t control me.”

The MP also said: “Wherever the BJP can’t win, it adopts a backdoor policy. This is not the people’s verdict. It’s a forced verdict.”

He added: “The DMK stands against this proposed Bill. Your (Union government) intention is to control the Delhi government. You want to control the officers and make sure no welfare schemes are implemented by the Aam Aadmi Party for the election benefits of your party.”

He also pointed out: “In the committee, two out of three members are appointed by the Union government. The quorum of the committee is two. Even if the chief minister not participating in the meeting, those two officers can decide on anything.”

The Congress’ Karti Chidambaram said: “This is a paradoxical government. Manipur is burning. Hundreds of people are dead. But the Union government will not interfere. It intervenes in places where its political capital is low, like Kashmir.”

The Sivaganga MP added: “They demoted a state into three Union Territories. The same thing is happening in Delhi. This is an anti-federal and pro-colonial law. They lost local body elections and state elections in Delhi. That’s the reason they are meddling in Delhi.”

Other voices

Meanwhile, the JD(S)’s Prajwal Revanna told South First: “We stand neutral on the Bill.”

The Hassan MP explained: “We received no directions from the party’s high command to support or oppose the Bill. Hence, I abstained from voting for the Bill.”

YSRCP leader PV Midhun Reddy said in the Lok Sabha that his party supported the Bill, subject to the condition that the law would not be replicated in other states.

“I request the government to take all stakeholders into consideration. I also have a request. This is a unique Bill and I hope it is not replicated in other states. With these words, YSRCP supports this Bill,” said the Rajampet MP on Thursday.

The Aam Aadmi Party was quick to take a swipe at the YSRCP.

Responding to Midhun Reddy, AAP leader Raghav Chadha tweeted in Hindi: “Lagegi aag to aaenge ghar kaee jad mein, yahaan pe sirf hamaara makaan thodee hai (If a fire breaks out, many houses will be engulfed by the blaze, not just my home)”.