NEW DELHI: The Narendra Modi Government, which is celebrating its first year, is bracing itself for a face-off with the Arvind Kejriwal-led government in the national capital, which completed 100 days in office on Sunday.
On Monday, when Modi will address his first rally in Mathura, Kejriwal will chair a Cabinet meeting at Connaught Place around the same time, thus making it look like a contest between the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister.
Kejriwal chaired a meeting of AAP legislators to discuss the strategy to take on the BJP-led Centre. Sources said the government could move a resolution condemning the Centre’s “interference in the state affairs”. Said AAP MLA Alka Lamba: “If the Assembly decides to go to court, we will go to court. You can’t run an elected government through the backdoor using the Lieutenant Governor.”
Kejriwal has been accusing the Modi Government of remote-controlling Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung over the appointment of bureaucrats. He has already called a two-day emergency session of the Assembly to discuss the matter.
And Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia alleged the Centre was engaging in dadagiri (bullying).
In a notification issued two days ago, the Centre gave absolute powers to the Lieutenant Governor in the appointment of bureaucrats, holding that he didn’t need to consult the Chief Minister on subjects like police and public order. Sisodia also accused the BJP Government of doing a U-turn on its “poll promise” of granting full statehood to Delhi.
“Modi Government minister Harsh Vardhan has been saying it repeatedly...Modiji himself said and they put it in their manifesto. Now, when the issue has come up, they are showing dadagiri. And the Delhi government will not keep mum on the issue,” Sisodia said.
He added that the government would bring in the Jan Lokpal Bill in the next Assembly session.
Meanwhile, the BJP accused the AAP of running the government in a “self-styled manner”. “Since the AAP Government came to power in Delhi, there has been no politics of coordination, only of confrontation. Kejriwal has been running a ‘meri marzi ki sarkar’ and has not only made a mockery of governance but also deceived the public,” state BJP chief Satish Upadhyay said at a press conference.
Upadhyay said the 100 days of AAP Government reflected “an era of anarchism”.