There seems to be a method in the madness of Aam Aadmi Party. Far from being a political party, the AAP is totally devoid of any political culture. Although there has been many instances of miscarriage of administration by the Delhi Government headed by Arvind Kejriwal and his team ever since he became Chief Minister first in December ( for 49 days) and then again in February 2015. But never before in the past, any Union Territory or a State witnessed such ugly brawl with its bureaucrats.
On the night of Monday (February 19), Chief Secretary of Delhi Government Anshu Prakash was assaulted by AAP legislators at the residence of Chief Minister Kejriwal. This incident took place late in the night in presence of the chief minister. As usual the AAP leaders denied any such incident and blamed the chief secretary for abusing legislators on caste and communal lines. But a medical report confirms that the chief secretary Prakash had bruises and marks of assault on his body. The Work in the Delhi Government Secretariat has come to a standstill. The bureaucrats are demanding an apology from the Chief Minister.
There is complete breakdown of Constitutional machinery in Delhi. It is time to impose the President’s rule in Delhi. The Government of National Capital Territory (Delhi) has to function under the framework of the Indian Constitution. Article 356 of the Constitution gives power to the President to assume charge of administration of a State Government in case it is found that “… the government of the state cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution”.
The Delhi Government owes its existence under Article 239AA of the Constitution that says “As from the date of commencement of the Constitution (Sixty- ninth Amendment) Act, 1991, the Union Territory of Delhi which is called National Capital Territory.
Under Article 239 AB of the Constitution, the President can suspend the Assembly and impose Central rule in Delhi in case there are sufficient ground to prove that the Government is not functioning in accordance with the Provisions of the Constitution.
The Delhi Government is indeed not functioning in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. Left to himself, Kejriwal wants to run the government as super chief minister encroaching upon the power of the Centre even if that goes in clear violation of the Constitution. He wants to control the Delhi Police and the Delhi Development Authority which are under the domain of the Centre. For all the failures of his government he blames the BJP and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Even in this case of assault on the chief secretary, Kejriwal and his team have blamed the BJP.
On the night of February 19, there was no emergency like situation in Delhi. The question arises why then Kejriwal called the chief secretary to his residence at an odd hour of 11 in the night. The meeting went on till midnight. The differences cropped up in the meeting over use of government money for publicity of the Delhi government. The chief secretary reportedly cautioned Kejriwal which led to the beating up of Prakash.
Running a government is not like managing markets like Palika Bazar or Sarojni Nagar. Running a government is a serious business and the seat of power is not a fish market.
It is sad that Kejriwal has betrayed the trust of the voters of Delhi who elected his party to govern the national capital. Saner elements who, understand politics and understand rule of law were thrown out by Kejriwal. Men like Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav were forced to quit. Kejriwal wants all his Party leaders to serve him as his bonded labourer. He just cannot stand any sort of criticism, he detests even sane advise. Here is a man born out of a movement called India Against Corruption who has least regard for honesty. He is part of our democratic system of government yet he likes to behave like a monarch and dictator. Who is a dictator? A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power and wields it in an oppressive manner.
At the National Executive meeting of Aam Admi Party in 2015, Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav who were founder members of the Party were stopped from entering the venue of the meeting. Finally they were thrown out of the Party.
At one point of time after he lost power in 2014, Kejriwal was facing criticism in the media. I recall one interview of Kejriwal in a news channel where he had said that once he comes to power he will put those journalists attacking him in jail. In the run up to 2014 Lok Sabha elections Kejriwal was hoping to win 50-60 seats and emerge as consensus candidate of a coalition government at the Centre in case the people gave a fractured verdict. Thankfully Indian voters gave a decisive mandate in favour of the BJP and its Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi to run the affairs of the country. Better luck next time Mr Arvind Kejriwal.
R K Sinha
(The writer is a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha)
