New Delhi: Is the threat of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government being dismissed in Delhi for real?
In a crucial move, the President’s Secretariat has forwarded the letter of opposition BJP stating that Delhi was reeling under a constitutional crisis to the home secretary. The President’s Secretariat has asked “for appropriate attention” of the home secretary into the assertions made by the BJP.
On August 30, a delegation of members of the Delhi Legislative Assembly, led by Leader of Opposition (LoP) Vijender Gupta, had met President Droupadi Murmu. They had sought urgent intervention in the alleged constitutional crisis in Delhi. They had demanded the dismissal of AAP government, while claiming that since Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was behind bars, it had led to a “constitutional crisis”.
A letter by director of the President’s secretariat Shivendra Chaturvedi to the LoP in Delhi assembly read, “This is to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated 30th Aug 2024, addressed to the President of India jointly signed by seven other MLAs and one former MLA of Delhi Legislative Assembly.”
“The said communication has been forwarded to home secretary, ministry of home affairs, for appropriate attention,” it added.
What did the BJP memorandum say?
Earlier, in the memorandum submitted to the President, BJP MLAs had lamented failure to constitute the Sixth Delhi Finance Commission, which has been due since April 2021. “This neglect represents a grave violation of the Constitution of India and has severely impeded proper financial planning and resource allocation for the city, particularly affecting the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD),” the memorandum said.
It was stated in the memorandum that important orders that require the CM’s signature were kept pending without any urgency to find solution to the matter. The memorandum also claimed that the situation has led to a “complete breakdown of governance in Delhi.”
The memorandum had pointed out that CM Arvind Kejriwal has been behind bars for more than four months on graft charges in connection with the Delhi excise policy scam. But he refuses to quit from his post, which is creating an unprecedented constitutional crisis and this moral bankruptcy from the head of a state was unforeseen by our Constitution’s framers, it said.
Reacting sharply to it, AAP had then slammed the BJP for approaching the President to dismiss government, which they said showed they had already accepted defeat in the coming Delhi assembly polls.