Fail to understand what merit BJD, YSRCP have found in Delhi services bill: Chidambaram

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Tuesday took a swipe at the BJD and the YSRCP for pledging support for the bill to replace the Delhi services ordinance and said he fails to understand what merit they have found in the legislation.

The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Tuesday extended its support to the bill replacing the Delhi services ordinance in a boost to the treasury benches, especially in Rajya Sabha, and also backed the government against the no-confidence motion brought by opposition parties.

Last week, Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) functionaries had said that the party will vote in favour of the government in Rajya Sabha when it takes up the bill to replace the Delhi Services ordinance next week. In a tweet, Chidambaram said, ”I can understand BJP MPs supporting the Delhi Services Authority Bill, but I fail to understand what merit in the bill was found by the BJD and YSRCP parties.” The Union government on Tuesday tabled the contentious bill in Lok Sabha to replace the Delhi services ordinance amid vociferous protests by opposition member.

The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023, which gives the Delhi Lieutenant Governor a final say on the transfer and posting of officials of the city government, will strengthen the Central government’s control over the national capital.

”Have the two parties (ruling parties in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh) found merit in the three-member authority where the (Delhi) chief minister will be just one against two officers appointed by the central government?” the former home minister said.

Have they found merit in the provision where the two officers can constitute the quorum and hold a meeting and take decisions without the participation of the chief minister, he asked.

”Have they found merit in the provision where the two officers can overrule the chief minister? Have they found merit in the provision where the LG can overrule even a unanimous decision of the authority?” Chidambaram said on Twitter.

He asked have the two parties found merit in the provision that empowers the central government to define the ”powers and duties” of the officers working in the Delhi government to the exclusion of the ministers of the Delhi government.

The Congress leader tweeted, ”Have the two parties realised that if the bill were passed, the officers will be the masters and the ministers will be the subordinates?” The BJD became the second party besides the YSR Congress, among those not formally aligned with either the ruling BJP or the opposition, to announce support to the Centre on the Delhi services bill, dealing a blow to the opposition’s efforts to cobble together a majority in Rajya Sabha where the treasury benches lack a majority on their own.