A wearisome spectacle of buck-passing takes place every time disaster hits New Delhi. Whether it’s the oxygen crisis during Covid, air pollution, or the heaviest rainfall in forty years, every crisis sees an angry war of words between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party government and the Centre-appointed Lieutenant Governor. Every time the same questions are asked — who is in charge and who is accountable? In Delhi street lingo, Dilli ka Big Boss kaun?
During the recent Delhi floods, when an overflowing Yamuna returned to its 19th-century course and lapped at the walls of the Red Fort, the AAP government blamed the Haryana BJP government for a “conspiracy” against Delhi. It alleged that by releasing water from Haryana’s Hathnikund Barrage it was “trying to ensure a flood-like situation”. The AAP also targeted the Delhi LG Vinai Kumar Saxena and bureaucrats for delayed responses. The BJP in turn blamed the AAP for “inaction” and “corruption” and demanded that the Chief Minister “apologise.”
Between an AAP-controlled Municipal Corporation of Delhi and a centre-nominated New Delhi Municipal Council, a home ministry-appointed LG, seven BJP MPs and municipal councillors from a slew of other parties, there is a mess of power centres in Delhi.
Also read: Amid tussle with AAP in Punjab, Congress says will oppose Modi govt’s Delhi ordinance
Battleground Delhi
The AAP government, voted in with two massive consecutive majorities, has been trapped in a long contest with the LG. A dominant BJP is in a belligerent mood with the twice-victorious and confrontational CM Arvind Kejriwal. The high-pitched political battle between BJP and AAP has spilled into a tussle over Delhi. The conflict reached a boiling point when, on 19 May, the Centre issued an ordinance drawing most of Delhi’s ruling powers to itself.
The ordinance reveals the crux of the power struggle afoot in Delhi — control of the civil services.
Prior to the ordinance, on 11 May, the Supreme Court held that it was the elected government of Delhi which had the power to make laws and administer civil services, and the role of the Centre-appointed LG was to be limited to land, police and public order. As the AAP celebrated and began the process of transferring officers, the Centre promulgated the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Ordinance 2023 to claim power over the services in Delhi, thus negating the Supreme Court order. It effectively took Delhi back to the prevailing situation of 2015 when the LG had power over services.
AAP has launched protests and party chief Kejriwal has sought the support of other Opposition leaders to defeat the Delhi ordinance in the monsoon session of Parliament commencing on 20 July. The ordinance is now back before the Supreme Court.
Beyond fuelling the AAP vs LG tussle, the Delhi ordinance puts India’s federalism itself at risk.
Federal values have been undermined not only by the Centre but often by the states too. The AAP, today crying foul on the Centre’s overreach, has also played a part in weakening federalism.
State governments and political parties that cheered the splitting of Andhra Pradesh in 2014 or the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu & Kashmir in 2019, have been complicit in undercutting the federal principle. The AAP supported the revocation of Article 370 by central diktat.
Also read: Congress has little to gain and a lot to lose from Opposition unity charade
Importance of federalism
While there is a growing realisation that strong political federalism is the only way to try and combat the highly centralised Modi-led regime, state leaders have found it hard to form a federal front.
Many chief ministers who represent the federal structure themselves dream of becoming Numero Uno at the centre, and thus find it difficult to co-operate amongst themselves. For example, powerful ambitious chief ministers like West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee or Telangana’s K Chandrasekar Rao want to widen their own footprints and do not want to join alliances with those they are fighting at the state level. Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister of Odisha, has consistently refused to be a part of any alliance of state leaders. State leaders develop their own personality cults and are unable to accept each other as equals.
Yet in vast and diverse India, there is no substitute for operationalising federalism.
India makes maximum progress when state governments are not toppled. Between 1991 to 2014, when India saw a range of coalition governments in New Delhi, very few legitimately-elected Chief Ministers were dislodged which created an environment of overall economic growth.
Former RBI governor YV Reddy has said that coalition governments always produce better economic growth than majority governments.
This is why it is imperative that the Centre’s Delhi ordinance is defeated by a united opposition. The reasons are clear.
First, India is a federal and not unitary state as defined in Article 1 of the Constitution — India that is Bharat shall be a Union of States.
In fact, as a former chief minister, Prime Minister Narendra Modi should appreciate the principles of federalism more strongly than he seems to. After all, as Gujarat chief minister Modi often complained of victimisation by the Centre.
Two, federalism is in jeopardy across states. In Tamil Nadu, the Centre-appointed governor is in an open war with the Chief Minister. In West Bengal, the governor is accused of playing an interventionist role and in Maharashtra last year, the governor was seen to be fast-forwarding the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government.
Three, strong states are the best mechanism to reflect India’s deep linguistic and cultural diversities. Four, if elected governments cannot rule with autonomy, then citizens become powerless because they cannot hold anyone accountable for daily woes. It is only through upholding federal principles that the sovereignty of the people is upheld.
When we ask the question Delhi ka big boss kaun, the answer is plain and simple — Delhi’s big boss is the citizen. It is the people who rule, it’s the people’s representatives, or an elected government, where the buck must stop. This is the lesson of the Delhi floods — in a crisis, it is elected representatives who must have the authority to deliver fast and effective administration to those in need. Else the gushing waters of the Yamuna will wash away the citizen’s right to good governance because of a failure to fix responsibility.
Sagarika Ghose is a journalist, columnist and author. Her recent published works are Indira, India’s Most Powerful Prime Minister (Juggernaut) and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, India’s Most Loved Prime Minister (Juggernaut). Views are personal.
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)