New Delhi: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s decision to appoint an advisory panel headed by Delhi CM and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal’s close associate Raghav Chadha has triggered a fresh political debate, with the opposition alleging that the AAP’s top leadership in the capital is actively calling the shots in Punjab.
Comparisons are being drawn with the Sonia Gandhi-headed National Advisory Council (NAC), which is alleged to have virtually dictated to the Manmohan Singh-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in policymaking, even vetting bills at the drafting stage.
On 6 July, the Punjab government issued a notification saying that the chief minister had undertaken a review of the working of his government at various levels and is of the view that a body is required to “tender advice to the Government of Punjab on matters of public importance pertaining to public administration”. The terms of reference sought to stress that the advisory body would be temporary and would serve at “the pleasure of the chief minister”.
The notification, signed by Punjab’s new chief secretary, Vijay Kumar Janjua, added that the the chairman and members of the body wouldn’t be entitled to any compensation, remuneration, perks, or reimbursements.
Then, on 11 July, the Chief Minister’s Office issued a press statement announcing Chadha’s appointment as chairman of the committee. It said: “In the new role, Raghav Chadha will shoulder the responsibility of overseeing the conception and implementation of pro-people initiatives of the AAP government in Punjab and advise the government on matters of finance accordingly.”
It further said, “His sound financial knowledge and prudence are likely to be a boon for debt-ridden Punjab, which is currently reeling under an extreme financial crunch, as he is expected to play an essential role in financial planning and making Punjab debt-free.”
ThePrint has learnt that the Punjab government is yet to appoint any more members to this committee.
The state’s opposition parties called Chadha’s appointment an “extra-constitutional” post created to enable the “outsourcing” of Punjab’s governance to leaders from Delhi, and asserted that Chadha would “be acting as an emissary of the AAP in Delhi”.
The appointment of Chadha, who is a Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab, has also become a legal affair, with a Chandigarh-based lawyer filing a public interest litigation in the Punjab and Haryana High Court Tuesday, calling it a case of “parallel government within the government”.
The AAP, however, dismissed the allegations and asserted that the people of Punjab would benefit from the advisory committee led by Chadha.
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The criticism
Shiromani Akali Dal spokesperson Charanjit Singh Brar told ThePrint: “The CM and ministers appoint their own advisors. That way, Mr Mann has his advisors. Appointing Mr Chadha as chairman of the so-called advisory committee is nothing but creating an extra-constitutional post. He (Chadha) will be managing things according to the directions received from the AAP’s top leadership in Delhi. Punjab’s governance has been outsourced.”
Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa told reporters: “Mr Chadha is the representative of AAP’s Delhi Darbar in Punjab. The move amounts to turning Punjab into Mr Kejriwal’s colonial outpost. He is creating extra-constitutional authorities with no accountability.”
Dismissing the allegations, AAP’s chief spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj told reporters that it was well within the powers of the Punjab government to set up the panel and sought to counter the opposition charge, contending that an advisory body cannot become higher in authority than the chief minister who formed it using his powers.
“It’s an advisory body and temporary in nature. And, the biggest thing about it is that there is no provision for paying even a single rupee (to the chairman and members of the panel),” said Bhardwaj, adding that Chadha has been appointed as chairman so that “small ambiguity” in policy matters can be done away with as he has “first-hand knowledge” of the Kejriwal model of governance in Delhi.
A senior Punjab-based IAS officer, who did not wish to be identified, said: “Maybe the legalities of the matter have been carefully taken care of by the AAP government in Punjab. They can always argue that ministers and governments have the right to appoint advisors from all walks of life. Even the Prime Minister’s Office does it.”
“Also, they have made it very clear that the advisor will be entitled to no remuneration or perks. But then, the appointment violates Punjab’s political culture of resisting intervention from Delhi, which Punjabis often term ‘Delhi Darbar’,” the officer added.
A former chief secretary of the state, who also did not wish to be identified, said: “It also raises questions over the elected CM’s autonomy, especially when concerns about Mann acting as Kejriwal’s proxy have been there since AAP won the polls.”
Comparisons with NAC
In the four months since the AAP came to power in Punjab, there have been several instances of Mann visiting Delhi to meet Kejriwal. Mann has also been vocal about taking Kejriwal’s guidance on governance. There has been at least one instance of the Punjab chief secretary and other bureaucrats coming to Delhi to meet Kejriwal. The two states have also signed a “knowledge-sharing” agreement.
According to the bureaucrats quoted above, the current situation has striking similarities with the NAC’s role during the UPA administration. In 2006, Congress president Sonia Gandhi was accused of holding an office of profit by being a Lok Sabha MP as well as the NAC chairperson. In that capacity, Gandhi enjoyed the rank of a cabinet minister.
Article 102 (1)(a) of the Constitution says that a person shall be disqualified as an MP for holding “any office of profit under the Government of India or the government of any state, other than an office declared by Parliament by law not to disqualify its holder”.
While the Election Commission of India was considering a petition filed against her by opposition leaders, Gandhi resigned from her Lok Sabha membership on 23 March 2006. She then contested a byelection and was re-elected on 15 May in the same year.
In 2017, the Narendra Modi government made public 710 files related to the NAC, allegedly highlighting how Gandhi had the final say on policy matters, how officers were often summoned by her, and how directions were often issued in the garb of suggestions.
AAP’s Punjab spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang was dismissive of the comparison. “This is not a cabinet-rank post according to the official notification. Also, there are no remunerations, perks, benefits, compensation, or reimbursement. So, the question of office of profit does not arise at all. Political opponents are comparing apples with oranges. This is just propaganda.”
Chadha was appointed adviser to Delhi’s deputy CM Manish Sisodia in 2016 —when he was neither an MP nor an MLA — reportedly for a remuneration of Re 1 per month.
His appointment — along with eight similar ones in the Delhi government — was retrospectively cancelled in 2018 under directions from the Union home ministry, which asserted that the services department in Delhi comes under the domain of the Union government and that the AAP government should have taken permission from the Centre before notifying the advisor posts.
This does not apply in Punjab’s case as the AAP enjoys full control over all departments under the state government, senior officials in Punjab said.
In 2018, the Election Commission had also recommended the disqualification of 20 AAP MLAs in Delhi over office-of-profit charges. The legislators were accused of having being unconstitutionally appointed as parliamentary secretaries to assist various ministers in the Delhi government.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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