Congress lays down reasons to "not oppose" Centre's Delhi ordinance, asks Kejriwal "If all Delhi Chief Ministers....."

New Delhi: Congress leader Ajay Maken on Tuesday laid down the reasons to "not oppose" the ordinance passed by the Centre regarding the 'control of services' in the national capital asking why is Delhi Chief Minister "stirring up chaos" if all previous persons holding the office performed their roles "without fuss".
This comes after Arvind Kejriwal embarked on a nationwide tour today to seek opposition support to ensure that a bill related to the centre's ordinance nullifying the Supreme Court order on services matters is not passed in the Rajya Sabha. While talking to ANI, Ajay Maken said," Former CM Shiela Dixit demanded that services be brought under Delhi govt control but it was neither given by former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee nor Manmohan Singh. They never got transfer posting powers. Then why is the current CM demanding it now? How can they (AAP) make their fight, people's fight? They say they have done a lot of work in education, health etc. The credit that they take is also the work of the officers deployed in Delhi, did they bring officers from Andaman & Nicobar Islands."
The Congress leader further alleged that the national capital is suffering due to the unrest between the Centre and Delhi government as the power tussle for the services continues.
Taking to Twitter, Maken enumerated three reasons for not backing Aam Aadmi Party over the issue- Administrative, Political and Legal reasons.
"An Examination of Reasons to Not Oppose the Ordinance - Administrative, Political, and Legal Aspects". The discussion must begin with two critical observations. First, by backing Kejriwal, we are going against the decisions and wisdom of numerous respected leaders: Baba Sahib Ambedkar on 21st October 1947, Pandit Nehru and Sardar Patel in 1951, another decision of Pt Nehru in 1956, Lal Bahadur Shastri Ji as Home Minister in 1964 and as Prime Minister in 1965, and Narasimha Rao in 1991," Maken tweeted.
He said that if the ordinance does not pass, "Kejriwal gains a unique privilege previously denied to Chief Ministers like Sheila Dikshit, Madan Lal Khurana, Sahib Singh Verma, and Sushma Swaraj. Let's delve into the administrative, political, and legal viewpoints against opposing the Ordinance".
Talking about the administrative reasons, Maken said that cooperative federalism principles don't fit in Delhi's context as it's not just a State or Union Territory; it's the "National Capital".
"It belongs to the Union and, thus, to every Indian citizen. Delhi residents stand to benefit from this status. As the National Capital, the Union Government annually spends approximately 37,500 crores on various services, a burden not shared by the Delhi Government," he tweeted.
He said that a committee led by Baba Sahib Ambedkar addressed the issue of governance in Delhi and submitted its report on October 21, 1947.
"So far as Delhi is concerned, it seems to us that as the Capital of India it can hardly be placed under a local administration. In the United States, Congress exercises exclusive legislative power in respect of the seat of the Government; so too in Australia. No sufficient reasons for departing from these precedents appear in the Committee's report. We have, therefore, come to the conclusion that a somewhat different plan is desirable. Accordingly, we have proposed in the draft that these Central areas may be administered by the Government of India either through a Chief Commissioner or a Lieutenant-Governor or through the Governor or the ruler of a neighbouring State..." Maken quoted the report as saying.
"Following the recommendations from Baba Sahib's committee, Pt Nehru and Sardar Patel placed Delhi under the administration of a Chief Commissioner through the Government of Part C States Act, 1951. This act included a special provision exclusive to Delhi," the Congress leader added.

Citing former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao, Maken said that he had established the present form of Governance for Delhi, granting LG all powers to transfer and post officers via the 'Transaction of Business Rules' in 1991.
"So, none of the Prime Ministers since independence allowed the elected Delhi Government the powers to transfer and post officials," he tweeted.
Coming down to the political reasons, Maken said that Kejriwal's past political engagements raise questions. He cited the resolution passed by the BJP and AAP urging the Centre to withdraw Bharat Ratna from Rajiv Gandhi who was awarded in1991.
He also recalled the AAP's support to the Centre over the Article 370 issue in the Parliament in August 2019.
"Kejriwal backed the BJP both inside and outside of Parliament on the Jammu & Kashmir issue. This support came when J-K was divided and reduced to a union territory, leaving its people disenfranchised for five years. Kejriwal also supported the BJP during the move to impeach CJI Dipak Mishra on various charges," Maken tweeted.
The Congress leader also mentioned the Delhi government's notification on the implementation of three farm laws which was later withdrawn by the Centre. However, Kejriwal had extended support to the farmers' protest against the laws.
"Kejriwal's support for the BJP in Gujarat, Goa, Himachal, Assam, Uttarakhand, and in the recent Karnataka elections, where he fielded candidates against the Congress Party, also begs the question - Why only in states where Congress is the primary opposition or ruling party?" Maken tweeted.
The Congress leader cited the Para 95 of the recent Supreme Court order and said, "However, if Parliament enacts a law granting executive power on any subject within the domain of NCTD, the executive power of the Lieutenant Governor shall be modified to the extent, as provided in that law".
Maken said that if anyone backs Kejriwal and opposes the ordinance is opposing the former prime ministers' decisions in this regard.
"...anyone backing Kejriwal and opposing the ordinance is essentially going against the wisdom and decisions of Pandit Nehru, Baba Sahib Ambedkar, Sardar Patel, Lal Bahadur Shastri, and Narasimha Rao. The key question remains - if all the previous Delhi Chief Ministers could perform their roles without fuss, why is Kejriwal stirring up chaos now? Is this mere political posturing?" Maken tweeted.
"Unfortunately, it's Delhi that bears the brunt of this unrest. In this turmoil, Delhi suffers the most," he added.
Reacting to the points made by Ajay Maken, Punjab Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa on Twitter said that he fully endorses the viewpoint of Ajay Maken. (ANI)