Delhi belongs to Union, backing Kejriwal is going against wisdom of Nehru, Ambedkar: Congress' Ajay Maken on ordinance row

Senior Congress leader and former minister Ajay Maken has once again weighed in on the ongoing tussle between the Centre and the AAP government in Delhi on the matter of services. In a detailed post on Twitter, he laid out reasons, from administrative to legal, against supporting Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in his fight against the Centre's ordinance.

Arvind Kejriwal recently met Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and said if all the opposition parties come together the ordinance will not pass in the Rajya Sabha. Kumar also met Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and former chief Rahul Gandhi as part of his efforts to stitch an alliance for the next general elections.

However, Ajay Maken today said that backing Kejriwal would be like going against Baba Sahib Ambedkar, Pandit Nehru and Sardar Patel. "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 Sh. Narasimha Rao in 1991 (sic)," he wrote.

The former union minister said that if the ordinance is not passed in the Upper House, it would give Kejriwal "a unique privilege previously denied to Chief Ministers like Sheila Dikshit, Madan Lal Khurana, Sahib Singh Verma, and Sushma Swaraj".

Explaining why the powers of transfer and appoint officials cannot be given to the Delhi government, Maken said cooperative federalism principles don't fit in Delhi's context. "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," he said. "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."

The Congress leader, whose party is yet to decide whether to back Kejriwal, said that para 95 of a recent Supreme Court decision allows the Centre to modify the law. "It states, '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.

"Summarizing the above, 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," he said. Further, Maken said that 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? Unfortunately, it's Delhi that bears the brunt of this unrest. In this turmoil, Delhi suffers the most."

Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today met Kejriwal in Delhi and backed him in his fight against the Centre. Targeting the Centre, she said the central government will rule all the states, through Governors, ordinances and letters. "I request all opposition parties that if you are willing to work together, don't let a single vote go to the BJP, I want everyone to vote for non-BJP parties against such an ordinance."

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