NEW DELHI: Delhi’s political scene witnessed many ups and downs in 2014. It saw President’s Rule being imposed for the first time and Delhi assembly remained under suspended animation for over eight months. Delhi assembly also witnessed a fractured mandate for the first time in the history.
The first quarter of the year started with Arvind Kejriwal led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government riding on a high and then fading away after he resigned as the Delhi Chief Minister on February 14, 2014.
The year 2014 also witnessed that BJP swept all the seven seats riding on the Modi phenomenon in the Lok Sabha election in May.
This is the also first time after delimitation of boundaries of Lok Sabha constituencies in Delhi, BJP won all the seven seats, the AAP remained on the second position while Congress at third. Three candidates of Congress forfeited their surety in the Lok Sabha polls. BJP’s domination was complete as it led in 60 assembly seats during Parliamentary elections.
From Kejriwal’s government’s resignation after 49 turbulent days at the helm to President’s Rule to wrangling by parties for fresh polls – Delhi’s political landscape was abuzz with activities but in the process development took a backseat. Kejriwal slashed power and water bills but took a number of controversial decisions like ordering filing of FIR against then Petroleum Minister M Veerappa Moily and RIL chief Mukesh Ambani for alleged collusion in fixing prices of natural gas from KG basin.
The AAP government was in the eye of a storm on a number of issues like a midnight raid by minister Somnath Bharti to bust an alleged sex and drug racket and then Kejriwal’s ‘dharna’ seeking punishment against policemen who refused to take action in the case.
Kejriwal along with his six cabinet colleagues and scores of supporters spent a night under the open sky outside Rail Bhavan, the venue of their protest, braving the cold winter on January 20.
The AAP’s gamble of quitting power and capitalising on its populist measures in the Lok Sabha polls did not pay dividends with the party failing to win a single seat in the Lok Sabha polls where BJP made a clean sweep. The AAP candidates were in second position in all seven constituencies while Congress suffered a crushing defeat.
Kejriwal, who had lost against Narendra Modi in Varanasi, admitted that it was a big mistake on his part to quit government in Delhi and promised never to repeat it.
The union cabinet in November this year recommended the dissolution of the 70-member Delhi assembly where no political party had enough numbers to form a stable government.
The decision was taken after leaders of the BJP, AAP and the Congress told Lieutenant Governor that they wanted elections to end months of political uncertainty.
Arvinder Singh Lovely, who was appointed Delhi Congress president following party’s severe defeat in Assembly polls, tried to regain the grand old party’s lost ground by initiating a massive contact programme at the grass-root level. Though three-time Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit returned to the city after quitting as Kerala governor in August, Congress leadership chose to continue with Lovely to steer the party. Dikshit publicly said she was not interested to return to Delhi politics but her loyalists have been pressing for her return to leadership role.
As 2014 enters in to the last week the political scenario remains clouded with AAP pitching to regain the lost turf and BJP gearing up with renewed gusto after its impressive win in Jharkhand and creditable performance in Jammu and Kashmir. The Congress which has ruled 15 years in Delhi, suddenly seems nowhere in the upcoming assembly polls here.
In bureaucratic circle, chief secretary Deepak Mohan Spolia was transferred as Delhi Financial Commissioner when Kejriwal government came to power. Spolia was replaced by 1980 batch officer SK Srivastava as chief secretary of Delhi.
Interestingly, Srivastava was transferred to Delhi Finance Commission when BJP government came at Centre due to his habit of late coming to meetings.
Spolia again was rehabilited as chief secretary of Delhi and his retirement is due on January 31, 2015.
Under the President’s Rule or Lieutenant Govenor’s rule, the performance of bureaucracy in Delhi is bad shape. Neither the departments are able to utilize plan fund nor interested increasing revenue collection as there is decline of Rs 3000 crore in revenue collection till November.
Security of women and north east people remained a concern for the city in the year gone by. Though Lieutenant Governor promised series of steps, there was nothing concrete on the ground.
But the city witnessed the most sensational mysterious death. Sunanda Pushkar, wife of former Union minister Shashi Tharoor, who was found dead at a 5-star hotel on January 17 remains the biggest mystery of the year with conspiracy theories flying thick and fast but no concrete probe took place.
The sensational murder of 19-year-old Nido Tania, a student from Arunachal Pradesh led to nationwide outrage and a national debate on discrimination against Indians from the North East. Tania had died after being beaten up by shopkeepers in Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar following a fracas allegedly triggered by their racial taunts at him.
Women security was in the spotlight when a 27-year-old financial executive was allegedly raped by a Uber cab driver inside his taxi on December 5.
In the meantime, police managed to crack Indian Mujahideen network with several arrests of key members of banned terror group. The anti-terror unit of Delhi Police, Special Cell arrested chief Tehseen Akhtar alias Monu from Indo-Nepal border on March 25. His arrest had come days after another top IM operative Zia Ur Rehman alias Waqas was nabbed from Ajmer in Rajasthan along with three of his associates. Another operative Ajaz Sheikh, who allegedly provided logistical support during IM strikes and sent anonymous mails after them from outside Saharanpur Railway Station in western Uttar Pradesh, was also nabbed.
Several communal flare ups were seen in the national capital with the one that took place on Diwali night in East Delhi's Trilokpuri area escalating into a major law and order situation leaving at least 70 injured including 56 police personnel. Tensions also escalated in Outer Delhi's Bawana around Muharram over route of the procession after a mahapanchayat objected to it. The festival was then celebrated under heavy police presence in subdued manner.
In education sector, the HRD Ministry scrapped the four-year undergraduate programme in Delhi University after face-off between Vice Chancellor, Dinesh Singh and on the other, the apex money-‘controlling’ body, the University Grants Commission. For the first time in the varsity's 92-year history , principals of all constituent colleges defered admissions for 2014-15 till the FYUP issue was resolved.
Last but not the least, after 18 years, the BJP student wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarti Parishad bagged all four seats in keenly contested the Delhi University Student Union polls.