Tag: saurabh bharadwaj

How Arvind Kejriwal Turned the Tables on Modi and the BJP

The AAP chief, in his new avatar as a person who understands the significance of political alliances, is here to stay.

Despite incessant attacks and two arrests that practically put him out of action, Arvind Kejriwal has stumped the Bharatiya Janata Party once again. By resigning from his position as Delhi chief minister immediately after being granted bail with conditions that placed restrictions on his administrative powers, the Aam Aadmi Party chief has put his astute political reflexes on full display.

His move came as the BJP had been leading a concerted, all round, campaign to label his government as “kattar beyimaan” (extremely corrupt) – a phrase coined by the BJP to aim at Kejriwal’s own brand appeal as “kattar imaandaar” (extremely honest).

The jailing of senior leaders and ministers, followed by Kejriwal’s own arrest, and a constant power tussle between the Delhi government and the L-G, had practically paralysed the AAP government. Amidst a leadership crisis in the absence of Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, worsened by its Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal’s saffron turn, the AAP government also appeared to struggle against a growing negative perception amongst the public, which has been torn between a powerless state government and an authoritarian Centre over the last few years.

Kejriwal’s decision to resign and offer his position to the spirited, young Atishi, who – along with Saurabh Bharadwaj – had played a crucial role in leading the AAP in the absence of senior leaders, has now put the BJP in a fix. At once, Kejriwal has set the political agenda for the assembly elections which are due early next year, while also puncturing the BJP’s narrative.

The BJP’s campaign in Kejriwal’s absence had veered around two crucial allegations against the AAP government. One, that the it had been the most corrupt of all governments of Delhi, an accusation that it could not substantiate beyond citing the arrest of its senior leaders by Union government-controlled investigative agencies, whose conduct and probes are under the scanner for their alleged political partisanship. Two, the BJP spokespersons made it a point to hammer the point that Kejriwal was making space for his wife Sunita Kejriwal to take over his role in the party.

By appointing Atishi, a leader who has earned her position as a natural successor, Kejriwal has not only reinforced his original USP as an honest and self-sacrificing Gandhian but has also energised Delhi’s lacklustre political mood by signalling that AAP remained a party which rewards political conviction and merit. He timed his resignation skilfully too, as any such decision at an earlier stage when he was in prison could have emboldened the BJP in its aggressive campaign against the AAP and stripped him of the moral high ground that he has attained now.

In choosing Atishi to lead the Delhi government, Kejriwal will also likely consolidate a constituency which had helped Sheila Dixit become the longest-serving chief minister of the national capital. The nomination of Atishi, considered the brains behind the Delhi government’s initiatives to restructure and reform the public school system in Delhi, has also given AAP another opportunity to foreground discussions on education and health sector reforms in the national capital. Those were the foundations upon which the party came to power for two successive terms but were pushed to the background as it grappled with allegations of corruption in its excise policy.

In one strategic move, Kejriwal has reclaimed the limelight once again. The BJP under Narendra Modi has successfully drawn an effective political narrative against the Congress, but has often been found wanting to tackle Kejriwal and the AAP’s quick retorts and repartee. Shorn of its effectiveness against AAP, it finally had to marshal government agencies to force the party into submission.

Thanks to AAP’s second line of leadership consisting of faces like Atishi, Saurabh Bharadwaj, and even Sanjay Singh, it could still dodge the BJP’s bullet by quickly changing tack. It picked its battles tactfully, entered into electoral alliances with non-BJP parties, sought support from civil society, and became an integral part of an anti-BJP front.

It was a marked change for a party that liked to be seen as an “outsider” in the political stage and had begun as a crusader against corruption, and positioned itself as an adversarial force against all existing political parties irrespective of their ideological inclinations.

Ever since it was formed, the BJP has battled with AAP in occupying the place of the chief “disruptor”. Against such a backdrop, AAP has faced greater attacks than even the Congress by the BJP political machinery. Yet, Kejriwal has displayed the tenacity to take on all such attacks with a rare resilience. He first showed his political mettle with two comprehensive wins in Delhi against the BJP’s formidable election machinery. At the same time, he has expanded his party to Punjab and some other states like Gujarat and Goa where it has emerged as one of the primary political players.

From here on, as Delhi enters its electoral season, Kejriwal will surely have an advantage over his opposition. He has already set in motion a political narrative that will only have his opposition responding to it. In the meantime, he will consolidate his party on the ground, campaigning extensively, and dictating the party’s moves and countermoves. The AAP chief, in his new avatar as a person who understands the significance of political alliances, is here to stay. There can’t be any doubt about it.

This piece was first published on The India Cable – a premium newsletter from The Wire & Galileo Ideas – and has been updated and republished here. To subscribe to The India Cable, click here.

‘Exaggerated and Misleading’: PIB After Criticism Over ‘Waterlogging’ at G20 Venue

Addressing Delhi lieutenant governor, V.K. Saxena, AAP leader and Delhi’s urban development minister had said the venue’s main area was ‘submerged’ and that ‘heads must roll‘ because of it.

New Delhi: The fact-check unit of the Union government’s Press Information Bureau on Sunday, September 10, said that claims saying that the G20 summit’s main venue was flooded were “exaggerated and misleading”.

It said “minor water accumulation in [the] open area outside Hall 5 [of the ITPO complex]” occurred due to overnight rain but was cleared in 20 minutes by deploying pumps.

“No waterlogging happened at the main venue of [the] G20 summit … No inconvenience [was] caused due to rains,” a video it posted on X (formerly Twitter) said.

The Bharat Mandapam within New Delhi’s ITPO complex served as the main venue of the G20 summit last week. The summit’s final events took place on Sunday.

Delhi received 38 mm of rainfall in a 24-hour period ending at 8:30 am on Sunday, the Hindustan Times reported. According to the India Meteorological Department, the city sees an average of about 128 mm of rain in the month of September.

Saurabh Bharadwaj, Delhi’s urban development minister, posted a video of the water accumulation at the ITPO complex, saying that the main area was “submerged in water”.

“Resp @LtGovDelhi [Delhi lieutenant governor V.K. Saxena] saab, This is very serious. Even after ur 50+ inspections, if the very main area around Mandapam is submerged in water, then heads must roll. I as Minister of Delhi don’t have control over this Central Govt area, else would have assisted u sir,” he said on X.the

The Congress party also posted a video of the wet area and said the Union government’s “hollow development [was] exposed”.

Officials working for Saxena told PTI that he was kept in the loop about the rain when it started on Saturday night.

“During the dinner hosted by the President of Bharat, it began to rain and Saxena activated the contingency plan put in place for such an eventuality,” an official said, adding that the area was clean by the time dignitaries arrived on Sunday.

His reference to the “President of Bharat” comes on the heels of speculation that India’s name may be changed to ‘Bharat’, which is its official name in Hindi.

These were triggered by government booklets and invitations referring to the country as ‘Bharat’ (in English) and drew ire from opposition parties.

Union information and broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur dismissed the speculation as “rumours”.

AAP Cries Foul After Centre Blocks Delhi Govt’s Doorstep Ration Delivery Scheme

AAP’s national spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said that the Centre was trying to thwart the party’s flagship programme to “embarrass the government and put hurdles in its work”.

New Delhi: Days after introducing a Bill in the parliament that seeks to empower the Lieutenant Governor vis-à-vis the elected government of Delhi, the central government has now stalled the Arvind Kejriwal government’s proposed doorstep delivery of ration scheme – the Mukhya Mantri Ghar Ghar Ration Yojana (MMGGRY) – that was scheduled to be launched on March 25.

The Centre has objected to the scheme being named after the chief minister and that the National Food Security Act (NFSA) does not allow subsidised foodgrains being provided by it to be supplied under any scheme or name other than NFSA.

The notification issued by the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs said, “the use of new nomenclature or scheme name for distribution of NFSA foodgrains by the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi is not permissible.”

It stated that the central government department would have “no objection if a separate scheme is made by the UT government without mixing the elements of the NFSA foodgrains”.

‘Centre trying to embarrass AAP government’

Following the letter from the Centre, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal held a meeting with Food and Civil Supplies Minister Imran Hussain and senior department officials to discuss the situation.

Later, AAP national spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj charged that the Centre was aware of all the attributes of the scheme and was only trying to thwart it to “embarrass the government and put hurdles in its work”.

Also read: Food Rights Activists Raise Concerns Over Opacity Around Delhi’s Doorstep Ration Scheme

He said the doorstop delivery scheme was a flagship programme of AAP government on which it was working for the past three to four years. “We know that ration shops open hardly a couple of times a month, witness long queues and fights, and often people have to return home on not getting the supplies,” he said.

Bharadwaj said this was a shortcoming of the public distribution scheme witnessed all over the country. “Since Kejriwal worked on PDS in Seemapuri for many years as a social activist, he also knew that a major reason for corruption was the low 35 paise per kg commission of the dealers. So in Delhi, the commission was increased to Rs 2 per kg.”

Representational image. Photo: Reuters

‘Scheme intended to end corruption, provide rations with respect’

Despite that, as problems with ration supply persisted, the AAP spokesperson said, it was decided to take to doorstep delivery of rations to stop issues related to less weight of grain, siphoning off of stocks and wastage of time in queues. “We wanted to provide rations to people with all respect.”

Bharadwaj said after the scheme was announced in February this year, the chief minister announced its launch from Seemapuri on March 25 and several meetings were held with ministry officials on the issue. “The scheme would have ended ‘dalalon ki dalali’ (commission of commission agents) and corruption running into thousands of crores. We, therefore, appeal to the Centre to not issue such an anti-people diktat,” he said.

Noting that the scheme would have provided home delivery like Swiggy, Zomato, Amazon or Big Basket do, he said the Delhi government is not asking for any money for delivery or packaging and neither was it seeking any extra grains from the Centre. “But the Centre says it can only be changed by Parliament, which it has asked to reduce powers of the elected government in Delhi,” he remarked.

Noting that the Delhi government “will take right administrative decision”, Bharadwaj also noted that the Centre is now saying that Delhi should come out with its own scheme. “This is just a delaying tactic. They are already sitting on 17 proposals passed earlier in Delhi Assembly.”

Scheme was notified by Delhi govt in February 2021

The MMGGRY scheme was notified by the Delhi government in February 20 this year. While doing so, the Delhi government had specified that the scheme would be optional and provide a grievance redressal mechanism.

Also read: ‘No Time for Experimentation’: Food Rights Activists on Delhi’s Doorstep Ration Delivery Scheme

The notification issued by the Delhi government had stated, “There will be provision of a grievance management system to enable the beneficiaries of Mukhya Mantri Ghar Ghar Ration Yojana (MMGGRY) to raise their grievances related to the scheme. A call centre for beneficiaries is also envisaged under the scheme. The direct-to-home delivery (DHD) agency shall also carry out beneficiary reach out programmes from time to time and provide various scheme-related information to the beneficiaries.”

The notification also stated that “the scheme will be optional, and an option shall be taken from the beneficiaries of existing PDS scheme in Delhi, as to whether they want to enrol under MMGGRY or continue under existing PDS. Those who are not opting for MMGGRY shall continue to get their ration as per existing mechanism and price.”

Scheme was to cover 17.54 lakh ration card holders

Elaborating on how the scheme would be implemented, the notification had pointed out that the Delhi State Civil Supplies Corporation Ltd (DSCSC) and the Delhi Consumer’s Co-operative Wholesale Store Ltd (DCCWS) will be responsible for the implementation of the scheme with the latter engaging agencies for the delivery of ration.

“The DHD agency shall notify the beneficiary in advance through SMS. The packed ration shall be handed over to the beneficiary only after his/her successful biometric authentication using the e-POS device,” it said.

As of now, there are around 17.54 lakh ration card holders in Delhi who are covered under the National Food Security Act, 2013. Of them, 15.12 lakh are priority households (PR), 1.73 lakh priority state households (PRS), and 68,468 are Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) families. The PR and PRS category card holders are entitled to 5 kg foodgrain per month while AAY families get 25 kg wheat, 10 kg rice and 1 kg sugar.

Centre bothered about nomenclature, not real flaws

Incidentally, while objecting to the nomenclature being used for the scheme by the Delhi Government, the ministry notification did not mention any of the other concerns that have been raised around the scheme by food rights campaigners.

Food rights campaigner Anjali Bhardwaj of Delhi Rozi Roti Adhikar Abhiyan (DRRAA) had questioned the secrecy and opaqueness around the roll-out of the scheme and asked why its details were not discussed with the stakeholders.

Also read: Buoyed by SC Ruling, Kejriwal to Implement Doorstep Ration Delivery Scheme

Also, she said, there was no information at present among people about how much wheat flour they would get in place of wheat. At the PDS shops, she said, the consumers sometimes also make the shopkeeper open up the sacks and show the quality of the grains. “So practical details also need to be looked into.”

Representative image. Photo: Reuters/Rupak De Chowdhuri

Earlier, food rights campaigners had in January this year also written to Kejriwal and asked why despite Delhi high court’s orders, the Delhi government has not promulgated rules for grievance redress under the NFSA; not set up an independent State Food Commission and neither carried out any social audits.

These issues have in the past also been brought to the notice of the Centre, which has now objected to the scheme but only for its nomenclature.

War of words

Meanwhile, the Centre’s objection has triggered a war of words between AAP and BJP leaders. The Aam Aadmi Party asked why the Centre did not want the Delhi government to implement a scheme that ensures the supply of rations at the doorstep of the poor.

Rajya Sabha MP and senior leader of AAP, Sanjay Singh, said the objections of the Centre showed that it did not want corruption to end in the public distribution system. “We only brought a scheme to eliminate corruption and to provide people rations at their homes. But the Centre is blocking it,” he said.

Senior BJP leader and New Delhi MP Meenakshi Lekhi, however, countered this argument saying people should look beyond the optics as Aam Aadmi Party often resorts to theatrics to mask the real issue. She said the objection was regarding the Delhi government using the Centre’s National Food Security Act  to promote itself. “They were also deficient in supplying people with the rations which the Centre supplied to Delhi during the Covid pandemic and this is on record in an affidavit filed in the court,” she told a news channel.

Will AAP’s Young Faces Secure Any Cabinet Ranks?

With four prominent youth leaders having won their seats along with all seven incumbent ministers, the party faces its first dilemma.

New Delhi: With all of its ministers and youth leaders having won elections, a problem of plenty now stares the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as it sits down to formulate its next cabinet. The party bagged 53.57% of the votes and won 62 out of 70 seats in the Delhi assembly elections.

The problem of accommodating dynamic young leaders when senior leaders, already occupying high positions in the government, stake another strong claim is not new to Delhi. This longstanding problem arises because under Article 239AA of the Indian constitution, the number of ministers cannot exceed 10% of seats in the Delhi assembly. Hence, there can be no more than seven ministers in the Delhi government.

All seven ministers retain their seats

This time around, all the seven sitting ministers have won their seats. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal won the New Delhi constituency for the third successive time while deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, after trailing the BJP candidate for hours, sharply recovered his lead to retain Patparganj.

Health and home minister Satyendra Jain from Shakur Basti and labour and development minister Gopal Rai from Babarpur are two other senior government functionaries who won their seats.

Also read: The Fruit of AAP’s Labour

The other three ministers to sail through were water and SC/ST minister Rajendra Pal Gautam from Seemapuri, law and transport minister Kailash Gahlot from Najafgarh, and food and civil supplies minister Imran Hussain from Ballimaran.

With Kejriwal and Sisodia occupying the top two posts, and Gopal Rai and Satyendra Jain being near certain of retaining their seats, there remain only three slots for all the other winning legislators of the party to eye.

One seat each may be kept for a Muslim, SC

There too, one ministerial berth in Delhi has traditionally been kept by parties for a Muslim. With AAP winning all five seats where Muslims constitute over 40% of the population, it remains to be seen if Imran Hussain will be replaced or not.

One serious contender for the post this time would be Okhla legislator Amanatullah Khan. This time he has scored the second-biggest victory for his party by defeating Braham Singh of the BJP by 71,827 votes. The largest victory margin was of AAP candidate Sanjeev Jha, who won by 88,158 votes from Burari.

With AAP also winning all the 10 seats reserved for Scheduled Castes in Delhi, it would be interesting to see if it would replace its SC/ST minister Gautam with one of the other candidates, if it decides to retain one slot in the cabinet for a member of the reserved category.

That effectively leaves just one open slot on the cabinet for the numerous young and bright leaders of the party who have won.

Youth leaders make a strong case for cabinet berth

One of the most articulate and popular faces among them is Atishi. The Oxford-educated leader was one of the architects of the education reforms in her capacity as an advisor to Sisodia. A member of the Political Affairs Committee of the party, she has now won from the Kalkaji constituency.

Also read: With Another Win in Delhi, Is Arvind Kejriwal Moving to the National Pulpit?

Similarly, Raghav Chadha, who won from the Rajinder Nagar constituency, is a practising chartered accountant who is also the national treasurer and spokesperson for AAP.

Saurabh Bharadwaj is another young face of the party. He was a minister in the 49-day government that was formed after the 2013 win and shot to prominence after he demonstrated, in the Delhi assembly, how electronic voting machines could be hacked. The claim was denied by the Election Commission.

Another claimant for a cabinet position this time is Dilip Pandey, the convenor of Delhi unit of AAP, who won from Timarpur by 24,144 votes. A Poorvanchali leader, his claim to a ministerial berth is likely to be strong since AAP is now nurturing national ambitions and would like to send out a strong message in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

‘Conspiracy,’ Says AAP After Kejriwal Made to Wait 6 Hours to File Nomination

A Congress candidate was also delayed by what turned out to be primarily a line comprising candidates who were former DTC workers.

New Delhi: After being made to wait for nearly six hours at the office of the Returning Officer, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal finally managed to file his nomination papers as candidate for the assembly election this evening. Though Kejriwal reached the election office at around noon, it was only after 6 pm that he could file his nomination as there were 44 other people lined up in the queue before him.

The Aam Aadmi Party has said that the fact that so many candidates were issued tokens ahead of Kejriwal was a conspiracy to harass the chief minister.

Party spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged that around 35 of these candidates did not even have proper nomination papers or the 10 proposers required for filing the nomination.

’50 candidates turning up daily for last four days’

“They r insisting unless their papers r complete and they file Nomination, they won’t allow CM to file Nomination,” he tweeted, adding that “an organised group of 50 candidates was taking tokens to file Nomination at New Delhi everyday for last 4 days but were NOT filing Nominations. They just wanted to harass Kejriwal. This situation was very much in knowledge of RO & DM.”

Later, he added, “It’s been 6 hours that Arvind Kejriwal is patiently waiting to file his nomination.”

AAP media adviser Nagendra Sharma termed it a ‘below the belt strategy’, adding that it would not work.

Token No. 45

Kejriwal too tweeted about the long queue ahead of him. “Waiting to file my nomination. My token no is 45. There are many people here to file nomination papers. Am so glad so many people participating in democracy,” he wrote.

Incidentally, Kejriwal had taken out a road show on Monday to file the nomination but had got delayed in the process due to which he was left with no option but to file his papers on the last day.

Also read: Kejriwal’s Repeat Act: Delhi CM’s Roadshow Delays Nomination Filing – As it Had in 2015

Sacked DTC contract employees

Among those who filed their nominations ahead of Kejriwal was Manoj Sharma, a member of the DTC Contractual Employees Union, who claimed that he was only contesting against the Delhi CM to “save the constitution and the common man.”

Incidentally, many of those who filed their nominations during the day had been workers of the Delhi Transport Corporation. After losing their contractual jobs, they had floated a party by the name of ‘Mazdoor Ekta Party’ last year. But while one of them contested as its candidate, around 30 threw in their hats as independents.

The episode raised the question as to whether the chief minister who plays an important executive role at the time of elections too deserves to be treated differently when it came to filing elections because such a “strategy”, as alleged, could also be used in future by other groups to delay other important government functionaries at the Centre and in states.

Incidentally, this alleged tactic adopted by some candidates also delayed Congress candidate from the New Delhi Assembly seat, Romesh Sabharwal. He was issued token number 61 and filed his nomination much after the CM.

“My Token number is 61. I think it will take time few hours more. I don’t know how many locals are submitting nominations. I belong to government servants’ families. I don’t know how many belong to our community. We are all inside and their is no canteen,” Sabharwal tweeted.

Earlier in the day, Kejriwal reached the RO’s office along with is wife, Sunita, and daughter, Harshita. Talking to the media, Harshita exuded confidence that he would win comfortably. “Ninety-nine per cent of people feel that his government has done well,” she said.

She told the media that she has been on a leave since October and has been helping Kejriwal fight the polls.

Sunita too said she was actively involved in the campaign and that there has been “overwhelming response from people due to work done in the field of power, water, education and health.” In the future, she said, the AAP government will focus on addressing pollution and transport problems.

Congress’s Decision to Withdraw From TV Debates May Spawn Fake ‘Spokespersons’

While some anchors believe the party has not opted for the right ‘solution’, others have remained silent on the issue.

New Delhi: The Congress’s decision not to send its spokespersons to media debates for a month, while it introspects as to what went wrong with its strategy for the Lok Sabha elections, has evoked a mixed response from television anchors.

While some have said this is “not the solution” to avoid bad press, others have called it “stifling of freedom of expression”. Surprisingly, many leading anchors, on whose programmes the party’s spokespersons were regulars, have maintained a stoic silence on the subject.

The decision comes in the wake of Rahul Gandhi’s insistence to step down as Congress president after its dismal performance in the general elections. The party, which was bolstered at the end of last year after it unseated the BJP from the state governments of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, could not get even one seat in 18 states and union territories.

Though its tally grew marginally from 44 in 2014 to 52 this time, it still fell three seats short of being able to get the leader of the opposition status in the Lok Sabha.

Also Read: Amid Leadership Crisis, Congress Not to Send Representatives to TV Debates

As Gandhi offered to resign and there was a lot of mudslinging between party leaders in the Congress Working Committee meeting called after the election results, the media focussed entirely on its shortcomings.

According to sources, the decision was also taken with the view that many channels did not allow the party’s spokespersons to speak their mind on these issues. Congress national media in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala announced the decision on Thursday.


The move was immediately slammed by some senior journalists.

India Today anchor Rajdeep Sardesai commented that it may bring in more ‘real issues’ and ‘real people’ and less debates.

However, he added that a boycott was not a solution

The issue also drew responses from political leaders. Saurabh Bharadwaj of Aam Aadmi Party said while some anchors lend credibility to the channels, others run “propaganda of BJP”.


Incidentally, this is the first time that the Congress has taken a decision of this nature. In the past, it has often boycotted certain channels or certain programmes when it found anchors inimical towards it. The party has refrained from sending any of its spokespersons to either Republic TV or Zee News. It had also withdrawn them from Rohit Sardana’s show on Aaj Tak.

Finding an opportunity to attack the Congress on the issue, Sardana called the move a “stifling of freedom of expression”.


He also recalled that before the Congress, the Samajwadi Party also took a similar decision.

The Congress was apparently miffed that channels like NDTV and Mirror Now, which usually give its spokespersons adequate time to express their views, projected it in a negative light since the elections began.

The NDTV debated “Was Congress’s election campaign negative?”. The line of argument convinced the party that such debates were not helping its image or cause.


Interestingly, senior NDTV anchors who often tweet about other issues and developments, chose not to comment on the Congress’s decision.

Mirror Now’s celebrity anchor Faye Dsouza held a debate titled, “What do you think the future of the Congress party is?”


Clearly this has been discomforting for the grand old party.

Its decision is also likely to hit the NDTV hard, as the BJP has stopped sending its spokespersons to the channel’s debates. With the Congress also choosing to stay away for a month, the demand for ‘dummy’ spokespersons, who claim to be political analysts and who views align with the party, will grow.

AAP MLA Devinder Singh Sehrawat Joins BJP, Asked to Seek Re-Election

Sehrawat became the second MLA from AAP to join the BJP in less than a week, after AAP’s Gandhi Nagar MLA Anil Bajpai.

New Delhi: Accusing the Aam Aadmi Party of ignoring and insulting him, AAP MLA Devinder Singh Sehrawat joined the BJP on Monday, becoming the second legislator from the ruling party in Delhi to join the saffron fold in less than a week.

AAP’s Gandhi Nagar MLA Anil Bajpai quit the party and joined the BJP on Friday.

Sehrawat, a legislator from Bijwasan, joined the saffron party at a press conference in the presence of senior Delhi BJP leaders Vijay Goel and Vijendra Gupta.

Reacting to the development, AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said his party will not allow any defector to remain as a  MLA and it is ready with disqualification petitions.

“Defectors are day dreaming about continuing their MLA office and they should be ready to face the electorate,” he said. “Sehrawat should seek re-election”, Bharadwaj said, “but shameless characters might want to continue”.

Earlier at the press conference, Sehrawat accused AAP of ignoring and cornering him. He said he was not even invited to party functions.

Also Read: The Delhi Voter’s Conundrum

“The party insulted me, but I took it in my stride and continued working for the development of my area,” the retired colonel said.

“My people said that we have elected you to work for us and supported my decision to quit the AAP. I have joined the BJP considering the respect India got under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said.

Goel said the BJP was interested in inducting Sehrawat into the party even before he had joined the AAP.

“The party (AAP) would ignore Sehrawat and not even invite him to events in the area. When he felt he’s being insulted, the legislator decided to join the BJP,” Goel said.

Kejriwal tried putting pressure on Sehrawat when he got to know of his decision to leave the “sinking ship”, he alleged.

The BJP has kept its doors open for all those who are feeling insulted in the AAP, the Union minister said.

BJP leader Vijendra Gupta said, “Kejriwal tried to conspire against Sehrawat, sidelined him. He is being made to pay for opposing the party’s decision to oust Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhusan.”

Gupta said that AAP had insulted a retired Army officer and asked the party to apologise to him.

AAP national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal alleged that the Modi government was “using the proceeds from the Rafale scam to buy AAP MLAs”.

Also read: Winning at Any Cost the New Normal in Indian Politics: Election Commissioner

“They are doing the same thing in West Bengal. Modiji should tell how many MLAs they are planning to buy,” he said.

Rejecting the charge, Goel said, “It is wrong on his (Kejriwal’s) part to allege that his party MLAs are being bought by the BJP.”

“We did not say anything when our former MLA Gagan Singh quit BJP to join the AAP. He (Kejriwal) should learn how to respect his MLAs. His MLAs are leaving the party due to disrespect and suffocation and not for money,” he added.

AAP spokesperson Bharadwaj added that probity in public life demands that a legislator, after quitting the party on whose symbol they won an election, should immediately resign from the position and seek re-election “but shameless characters might want to continue”.

“The legal position is clear – the moment you voluntarily give up the membership of the party on whose symbol you were elected, you are liable for disqualification according to the 10th Schedule of the Constitution”, he said.

Several Thorns Remain in Centre-AAP Relationship Even After SC Ruling

At least nine contentious issues remain pending before the Supreme Court bench; AAP insists Centre should withdraw ‘unconstitutional’ notifications and allow it to work.

New Delhi: While three concurrent judgments by five judges on a Constitution bench of the Supreme Court had on July 3 laid down the contours of the unique status of National Capital Territory of Delhi, they had left it to a regular bench to separately take up the various issues which have proved to be bones of contention between the Centre and the Lieutenant Governor (LG) on one side and the elected Arvind Kejriwal government on the other.

In his order, Chief Justice Dipak Misra had, with respect to the validity of the two notifications issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Delhi government, as also regarding policy decisions pertaining to the setting up of probes into the CNG fitness scam and alleged malpractices in the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) noted that the “matters be placed before the appropriate regular bench.”

No end to tussle in sight as key issues remain pending in court

With the two groups are still at loggerheads over nine pending issues, the initial euphoria in the Kejriwal government over the verdict has quickly given way to a realisation that the Centre may still use the long-drawn legal process to thwart the functioning of the elected government.

Already, a tussle has broken out between the elected government and the MHA over the issue of service matters, which both the sides claim are within their domain. Likewise, the Kejriwal government has objected to LG Anil Baijal pushing for implementing the CCTV project under the purview of the Delhi Police, which reports to him.

Finally, even in the matter of the doorstep delivery of ration scheme, Kejriwal has directed the food department to implement the scheme overlooking the objections. The objections had come from the LG who had demanded that it be sent to the Centre to see if it conforms to the National Food Security Act. It has been learnt that the food department officials are posing a similar question at this point.

Aam Aadmi Party MLA and party spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj charged that the Central government is still objecting as it does not want the AAP government to function despite the apex court ruling: “This Supreme Court order has said that the Cabinet decisions are binding on LG on all subjects other than three – land, police and law and order. That means the LG has no independent view, it is the Cabinet which will take a view on this and he has to accept it. In exceptional circumstances, he can send it to the President but he still cannot have an independent view.”

As for the contentious issue related to services, he said; “Services have always been under the Delhi government, be it when Madan Lal Khurana, Sahib Singh Verma, Sushma Swaraj or Sheila Dikshit were chief ministers. The Centre had through the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a notification in 2015 taking away the powers of transfer and posting from the elected government. Recently, the Supreme Court made it clear that there is no fourth subject of services under the Centre’s purview.”

Bharadwaj said while the Supreme Court has interpreted the Constitution, these powers pertaining to services had been well defined in Delhi for the last 20 years under different chief ministers. “The Narendra Modi government brought a new interpretation to usurp the power of services. But now when the Supreme Court has set the record straight, one thing is clear – that it cannot reject decisions of the elected government at least in the projects which do not come under the three specified heads.”

AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj. Credit: PTI

‘Order has paved way for work to start’

The AAP leader said, following the apex court order, the elected government is taking steps to set into motion various schemes which have been stalled. “This is why the chief minister has now ordered that tenders be immediately issued for the CCTV project. The Cabinet has also issued directions for implementing the doorstep delivery of ration scheme. Work had stopped in unauthorised colonies, but today, the chief minister has gone there and ensured that work has restarted,” he said.

‘LG only wants to waste the time of the elected government’

But while the judiciary has settled the vexing issue of defining powers, he said “the LG is saying that only when the Centre quashes its old orders would he accept the changed situation. This is just a ploy for wasting the time of the elected government. After wasting three-and-a-half years, they want to waste a few more months. The court has clearly laid down the principles now, yet they want us to move the court against each and every illegal and unconstitutional order that the MHA or LG had passed.”

Noting that nine matters are still pending before the Supreme Court, Bharadwaj said the Centre now wants the Kejriwal government to approach the apex court for getting each of their unconstitutional orders quashed. “In a way, the apex court has taken a decision covering all of them, but the Centre wants arguments to take place on each so that more time is wasted in the process,” he charged.

Nine crucial issues still pending before apex court

Incidentally, these nine issues pertain to the MHA’s notification of May 21, 2015 that said the LG shall in respect of matters connected with “services” exercise the powers and discharges the functions of the Central government; the MHA’s July 7, 2014 notification that the anti-corruption branch of the Delhi shall not take any cognisance of offences against officers, employees and functionaries of the Centre; the August 11, 2015 notification appointing a commission of inquiry for inquiring into all aspects of the award of work related to grant of CNG fitness certificates in the transport department; and the December 22, 2015 notification appointing a commission of inquiry to probe the allegations of irregularities in the DDCA declared illegal by the HC.

The other pending issues are the Delhi government’s decision to appoint nominee directors on theBboard of the power distribution companies based on the chief minister’s recommendations; its direction to the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission regarding disruption of electricity supply to consumers; its notification via the revenue department of revising minimum rates for charging stamp duty on instruments related to the sale or transfer of agriculture land; and its decision on appointment of special public prosecutors for arguing sensitive cases.

‘Centre wants Kejriwal government to remain embroiled in legal matters’

Bharadwaj said while the Kejriwal government was elected for five years, three-and-a-half years have already been wasted because of these unconstitutional orders of the Centre, “They know that due to Model Code of Conduct for around four-five months around Lok Sabha elections and a couple of months before the next assembly elections, no work would happen. So that leaves less than a year for this elected government and now they want us to spend this time litigating these cases.”

‘Centre should have withdrawn unconstitutional orders’

The AAP leader said if there was any morality left with the Centre, it would have taken cognisance of the fact that the Supreme Court has pronounced that it has no right to interfere in certain matters and therefore, withdrawn those orders.

Bharadwaj said the legal process itself will prove time consuming. The recent Supreme Court order had come on a Delhi high court ruling of August 2016. It came after nearly two years. It took seven months to get the matter listed and for another seven months, the order was kept reserved. At this rate it would take at least two or three years to get judgments on all these issues.

So, he said, it was only a way of not letting the elected government work. “First they did not allow us to work using these strong-arm tactics and now they are coaxing us to get on with the work.”

‘LG playing dirty’

On the issue of installation of the CCTV system (for which a committee had been constituted under principal secretary (home)), which recommended that Delhi police should be the custodian of all CCTV cameras in public spaces in the Capital, Bharadwaj charged that “the LG is playing dirty. He wants to keep this system under the control of police and through that, wants to stay in the picture as the police are under his purview.”

File photo on Anil Baijal and Arvind Kejriwal. Credit: PTI

File photo of Anil Baijal and Arvind Kejriwal. Credit: PTI

In the case of doorstep delivery of ration scheme, he said that it was unlikely that there would be any hurdles.

CCTV and service matters are the only ones which the elected government feels will face problems. “We think the LG will not act directly, but would try and pose obstacles through the officers. The officers have started reporting for work, but they are still interfering with the files.”

‘AAP government resorting to drama, does not want to work’

Leader of BJP in Delhi assembly Vijender Gupta, however, insists that the AAP government is not serious about working and only wants to use the sympathy and agitation cards to impress the electorate.

“All the files did not go to the LG earlier too. Be it for making rooms in schools, elevated roads, hospitals or undertaking cleaning of drains and other works, there was no need for them to take permission from the LG. They could just start the projects as per the budgetary provisions,” he said.

‘Out of 650 files, difference of opinion in only three’

Noting how Additional Solicitor General Maninder Singh had argued that “out of 650 files received by the LG in the last three years, there was a difference of opinion in only three cases” and therefore the working of the elected government was never hampered, Gupta said, “the issue is of adherence to rules. If rules are not followed, then the proposals would either be objected to by the officers, the LG, or the matter would go to court and get stalled.”

“The problem with Kejriwal government,” he claimed, was that “it believes in taking short-cuts and not following the rules. In the case of creating parliamentary secretaries too, they brought the Bill after making the appointments, leading to the stand-off.”

‘Kejriwal government should move SC for contempt of court’

For the last three days, he said, the AAP government has been crying hoarse over the service matters issue. “Why don’t they file a contempt petition? Everything is in writing and they can approach the court – but they will not do so because they know where the power in the matter lies.”

The matter, he said, was still pending before another bench of the apex court. “The high court had also upheld the 2015 notification and the order has not been quashed as yet. These were powers of the LG which had been delegated to the elected government earlier. These powers were later withdrawn because the AAP government began misusing them.”

‘AAP destroyed mutual understanding, abused delegation of power’

Earlier, the BJP leader said, things were happening with “mutual understanding” and through “delegation of power”, but when the AAP government began challenging various authorities, they also responded by reclaiming their original powers. On May 21, 2015, the Centre and the LG clarified these powers through the notification.

On the ongoing tussle, Gupta said Kejriwal may have lauded the apex court order as a victory, but in effect is not happy with the judgment as it has stated that Delhi is not a full state and shown him his place. “They do not want to work and just keep claiming that we are not letting them work. The fact is, in Delhi, all departments work in tandem and have to take permissions from each other. So, when NBCC had to cut trees for redevelopment of government colonies, it approached the forest department of Delhi government. So also, the Delhi government obtains land for its schools and hospitals from Delhi Development Authority, which comes under the Centre.”

Problems, he said, arise when this coordination stops due to absence of mutual understanding and respect. “If you have to administer, you cannot allow politics to come in every time.”