Power games | Numbers pose existential crisis for AAP
Exit Polls
Numbers pose existential crisis for AAP
The return of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to Tihar Jail and the exit poll prediction of AAP’s impending rout in Delhi and Punjab, the two states where it is in power, point to a dire future for the party. There are reports that the Union government is not happy with the chief minister ruling Delhi from the jail.
Delhi lieutenant governor V K Saxena has reportedly indicated that immediately after the announcement of Lok Sabha election results, the central government would take a decisive step to improve governance in Delhi. At a recent lunch at Raj Niwas, he told those present that the chief minister’s refusal to resign has created a crisis of governance in Delhi and the Central government cannot remain a mute spectator.
He pointed out the serious water crisis in the national capital and said administration in the city has come to a standstill. Rumours of possible imposition of President’s Rule are flying thick and fast. Kejriwal’s aggressive campaign during his three-week bail period and the party’s ‘Jail ka jawaab vote se’ campaign appear to have failed to beat Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal among voters.
This has created a sense of despondency in AAP rank and file. Cracks are already visible in the Punjab unit of the party where many MLAs have expressed unhappiness with the leadership of chief minister Bhagwant Mann. The BJP has been fishing in the troubled waters of Punjab for some time. The party has reportedly been in touch with the MLAs and other state leaders of AAP. The exit poll results may encourage the dissidents and threaten the survival of the government in the border state.
Parliament Security
End of the road for Watch and Ward dept
The friendly and familiar faces of the Watch and Ward staff that greeted Members of Parliament, senior government functionaries and the members of media at the Parliament House are on their way out. Sources said that the Union government is likely to move the entire staff of the 100-year-old Watch and Ward department, which has been renamed as Parliament Security Service (PSS), to secretarial service.
They will no longer look after the security of the Parliament House. The Central Industrial Security Force will handle the entire security of Parliament. Sources said that this change in policy regarding the deployment of the PSS staff will be announced soon. The officials of the Central Reserve Police Force and Delhi Police, who used to help the PSS with peripheral security, were also withdrawn from Parliament duty last month.
There have been reports that the PSS officials could be deployed at the Supreme Court, Bharat Mandapam, and other such establishments, but the Lok Sabha Speaker and Chairman of Rajya Sabha have reportedly assured them that since they are part of Parliament, they will remain there and retire from there, though their responsibilities may change.
The Watch and Ward department was created after a bomb was thrown in the Central Legislative Assembly, (the Lok Sabha chamber of the old Parliament building) in 1929. The idea behind creation of W&W department was to make the Parliament a self-contained and self-sufficient entity.