New Delhi: The war between the Centre and Arvind Kejriwal for control over Delhi is moving to the Supreme Court.
Sources in the Union Home Ministry say the Centre has decided that it will challenge in the top court the victory scored recently by Mr Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of the capital.
Earlier this week, the Delhi High Court tagged as “suspect” a notification issued by the Centre that placed vast limits on the Chief Minister’s authority. The Centre said key decisions on the Delhi Police, land, and the appointments of bureaucrats are the sole prerogative of its representative in the capital, Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, who is not obliged to consult the Chief Minister on these issues.
Mr Kejriwal has said that document was a naked play by the BJP to govern Delhi by proxy.
A two-day emergency session of the Delhi Assembly called by him seeks to formally reject the Centre’s instructions. Given that Mr Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party holds 67 seats, and the BJP just three, the outcome holds little suspense.
Since his first and brief term as Chief Minister in February last year, Mr Kejriwal has shared a jagged relationship with Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, who he has accused of underhand political maneuvering designed to give the Centre, led by the BJP, an unwarranted authority in Delhi.
Their chafing scaled up to monster proportions about two weeks ago, when the Lieutenant Governor proclaimed he would decide the assignments of senior bureaucrats. Both men then declared postings decided by the other as invalid; the ugliness of the tit-for-tat peaked when a bureaucrat found himself locked out of office.
Mr Kejriwal has made it clear that he wants to campaign for statehood for Delhi, which, as a union territory, is governed partly by the Union Home Ministry.
