Prez approach BJP’s ‘back-door bid’ to dismiss elected govt, says AAP

New Delhi
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government on Tuesday hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for addressing a letter to President Droupadi Murmu seeking dismissal of the AAP-led government in Delhi, terming it a “back-door attempt” by the BJP to dismiss an elected government.
Senior AAP leader and Delhi minister Atishi said on Tuesday: “BJP could not buy AAP MLAs in Delhi; so now, it has started a conspiracy to topple the elected government of Delhi. If the BJP conspired to topple Arvind Kejriwal’s government, then the people of Delhi will give a befitting reply to BJP in the upcoming elections. If President’s Rule is imposed in Delhi, then BJP will get zero seats in the upcoming Delhi assembly elections.”
AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said: “The BJP is bound to be defeated; BJP can declare the elections right now. The BJP will lose the election now or four months later. If they want to declare President’s Rule, they will lose the election four months before the stipulated date.”
On Monday, the Delhi unit of the BJP said a letter was forwarded to the Union home secretary for “appropriate attention” and alleged the AAP government must “stop playing the victim card” and “misleading people on issues”.
On August 30, the leader of the opposition in the Delhi assembly Vijender Gupta led a BJP delegation to meet the President, demanding that the Kejriwal government be dismissed due to a “grave constitutional crisis” and “complete breakdown of governance in Delhi”. “The AAP government, under the leadership of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, has repeatedly and egregiously violated constitutional norms and principles, necessitating your immediate intervention to safeguard the democratic fabric of our nation’s capital,” the memorandum, to which two former AAP leaders were also signatories, said.
On Tuesday, Delhi’s urban development minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said the BJP’s surveys would have shown they have no chance of winning the Delhi elections. “They were jubilant about defeating AAP but the BJP now knows that it is impossible to defeat Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi elections. Now, they want to rule Delhi through the back door. It is their LG, their President, and their delegation. They do whatever they want to do but they cannot defeat Arvind Kejriwal.”
Atishi said the BJP has only one work — “to topple elected governments”.
“Wherever BJP does not win elections, it tries to buy and sell MLAs, tries to form government through the back door. The BJP did this work in Delhi too, but could not succeed.”
BJP’s Vijender Gupta said the government must respond to the issues raised in the memorandum submitted to the President.
“We have highlighted several issues, including the non-formation of the Sixth Delhi Finance Commission, the paralysed administrative system of Delhi, the non-presentation of 11 CAG reports in the Assembly, and the deliberate non-implementation of central government schemes in Delhi. The government has violated the Constitution by not forming the Sixth Delhi Finance Commission, which has led to a chaotic financial situation for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi,” he said.
SK Sharma, constitutional and parliamentary expert who was secretary to Lok Sabha and the Delhi assembly, said that President’s rule is the weapon of last resort in the armoury of the central government and it cannot imposed on minor procedural violations. He added that the opposition maybe using it as a pressure tactic to rectify the omissions and commissions on part of Delhi government related to CAG reports, finance commission and other things.
“Unlike other states where President’s rule is imposed for 6 months, GNCTD act for Delhi provides for up to two years of such a state. Imposition is unlikely on these grounds but if it is executed, the state may last for long period to buy time. Central government will need approval of both houses of parliament. If Delhi reaches such a state, the central government may want to undertake reforms in the overall set up of Delhi’s governance structure,” he added.