NEW DELHI // Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, has set himself on a collision course with prime minister Narendra Modi, accusing Mr Modi’s administration of undermining the elected Delhi government and “betraying the people of Delhi”.
Mr Kejriwal has also alleged that Delhi’s lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung, an official appointed by the representative of the federal government, was interfering with the appointment of bureaucrats in the city.
The tussle once again highlights the unique and sometimes nebulous position that Delhi occupies within India’s federal structure.
Tensions between Mr Kejriwal and Mr Jung emerged when the chief minister alleged that Delhi’s new acting chief secretary, Shakuntala Gamlin, had earlier tried to “trick” the Delhi government into guaranteeing loans worth 110 billion rupees (Dh6.36bn) taken out by private power companies.
Ms Gamlin had done this in her previous role as the principal secretary in Delhi’s power ministry, Mr Kejriwal said. If the companies had failed to repay the loans, “the burden would come on the people, and the rates in Delhi would have increased two- or three-fold”, he said on May 17.
For this reason, his government objected when Mr Jung named Ms Gamlin as chief secretary – the top bureaucratic position in Delhi – on May 15.
According to standard procedure, the government should have nominated its choice for the position and sent the recommendation to the lieutenant-governor for approval.
The federal home ministry issued a notice to Mr Kejriwal’s government on Thursday, arguing that the appointment of civil servants was within the lieutenant governor’s purview, and that he only needed to obtain the chief minister’s opinion “wherever he deems it appropriate”.
There have been other points of friction between Mr Kejriwal’s government and Mr Jung over the past week.
The lieutenant governor reversed the Delhi government’s transfer of another bureaucrat, Anindo Majumdar, and froze all civil service transfers and appointments until further notice.
On Thursday, Mr Modi’s home ministry also barred the anti-corruption branch of the Delhi police from registering cases against federal government employees. This negated Mr Kejriwal’s explicit instructionin April that action be taken against any corruption found within Delhi’s borders.
Media reports on Sunday said that control of the anti-corruption branch was likely to pass from Mr Kejriwal to Mr Jung.
Mr Kejriwal has accused Mr Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of controlling Delhi by proxy through the office of Mr Jung. “The prime minister’s office acts like the British used to [in colonial India], with the lieutenant governor acting as the [colonial] viceroy,” he said on Friday.
Mr Modi’s government dismissed Mr Kejriwal’s charges. “It’s not worth responding to Arvind Kejriwal, who just wants drama,” said Kiren Rijiju, the junior home minister.
“We don’t believe in drama but governance.”
Delhi’s ambiguous status in India’s federal system has led to many tussles between the state and central governments over the years.
Until 1991, Delhi was one of seven full union territories – an administrative unit that was ruled directly by the federal government through a lieutenant governor.
In that year, however, Delhi was accorded partial statehood by a constitutional amendment. This gave the city an elected legislature and government, as well as ministries to control education, power and health.
Crucially, however, the federal government retained control of Delhi’s police, as well as other powers related to land, public order, and certain financial regulations. The position of lieutenant governor was also retained, with the constitution suggesting that any differences of opinion between the lieutenant governor and the chief minister must be referred to the president of India.
Only in matters requiring urgent action is the lieutenant governor permitted to take action and override the chief minister.
Shakti Sinha, a former high-ranking bureaucrat in the Delhi government and now the director of the South Asian Institute of Strategic Affairs, a think tank, said “a certain ambiguity” had been allowed to persist in the distinction of powers between the two governments.
“It has definitely been the practice that the lieutenant governor defers to Delhi’s council of ministers,” said Mr Sinha. “But there is also a constitutional proviso that allows the lieutenant governor to interfere.”
“This is definitely not the most healthy construction,” he said.
Some constitutional scholars and lawyers have backed Mr Kejriwal, arguing that the governor should not appoint bureaucrats without the chief minister’s approval, and that Mr Jung has exceeded his authority.
In a written opinion sought by the Delhi government, lawyer Gopal Subramanium, said that Mr Jung’s actions “may be assailed in a court of law as a fraud on the constitution … It is illegal and unconstitutional”.
Mr Kejriwal has called for a two-day emergency session of the Delhi assembly, beginning on Tuesday, to deliberate Mr Jung’s actions and consider his government’s next step.
Mr Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) holds 67 seats in the Delhi assembly, while the BJP holds the remaining three.
ssubramanian@thenational.ae
