The bickering between the Centre and the Delhi Government is unfortunate. Both sides should adopt a give-and-take attitude
In a federal structure, differences of opinion between the Centre and the State are common. This is more so when different political parties rule the State and the Centre. It is also not uncommon when Chief Ministers of States have walked out of the National Development Council or the Inter-State Council Meeting, to protest against the Centre’s treatment of the State.
A Chief Minister accusing the Centre of using the Central Bureau of Investigation as a weapon against him/her, is also not new. In fact, the Supreme Court had described the agency as a “caged parrot”. Whether this is true or not, the fact is that the CBI is not an autonomous agency and the ruling party has some control over it.
Therefore, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s tantrums about the over- enthusiastic CBI raid is not surprising. Although the CBI was quick to respond that the office of Mr Kejriwal’s Principal Secretary Rajendra Kumar was raided because of a complaint against the bureacrat, the Chief Minister suspected a sinister motive and claimed that the raid was conducted to dig up dirt on him.
He also claimed that the CBI conducted the raid to look for the files relating to alleged corruption in the Delhi & District Cricket Association, which names Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitely. The BJP on its part refuted all allegations and criticised the Aam Aadmi Party leader for using foul language against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
What Mr Modi should have learnt by now is that given an opportunity, Mr Kejriwal will cry victim and try to put everyone else on the wrong. For instance, in the recent CBI raid, Mr Kejriwal admitted that the case against Mr Rajender Kumar was pertaining to the period he worked in the Sheila Dikshit Government.
A CBI raid might have been planned, but the AAP chief waited till it happened. The CBI too messed up the situation by raiding the offices when Parliament was in session. It could have been handled this in a better way, by taking Mr Kejriwal into confidence. All that this raid has done is that it has united the Opposition in Parliament. The Trinamool Congress, left parties and the Janata Dal (United) have all come to the Delhi Chief Minister’s rescue.
It is unfortunate that these allegations and counter allegations have reached its lowest ebb. Calling the Prime Minister of the country a “psychopath” and a “coward” is not befitting for a Chief Minister. In politics, decency needs to be maintained while dealing with opponents.
Noteworthy is the fact that ever since Mr Kejriwal came to power, he has been working on a particular pattern. He has been accusing the Centre of trying to run the national capital by proxy, through lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, calling him the Centre’s “agent”.
Mr Kerjwial wants to take on the Modi Government by accusing the Prime Minister for all the ills in the national capital. He has been taking on officials, the media, the BJP and the Congress. His earlier jibe at the Delhi police, calling them thullas, had not gone down well with the police.
The point is that, despite having an elected Chief Minister and a legislature, Delhi essentially remains a Union Territory. Mr Kejriwal wants complete control on the State. The Union Government is not willing to hand over the land and police powers to the Chief Minister. The unfortunate part is that this constant bickering between the Centre and the State does not auger well. After all, both Mr Kejriwal and Mr Modi have been elected with a hope to provide better, effective governance.
What the Delhites want is improved amenities. They don’t want to be caught in the fight between the Centre and the Delhi Government. Can Mr Kejriwal provide for what he had promised without the help of the Union GovernmentIJ If Mr Kejriwal goes on blaming others for his failures, people will get disenchanted with him. He must come out of his campaign-mode and move to providing benefits he promised to the people.
Mr Modi has been talking of cooperative federalism and Team India. If he is unable to have the Delhi Government on his side, what signal will it send to other non-BJP Governments in the StatesIJ
Both the sides should adopt a give-and-take attitude because, in governance, nothing is black or white; compromise is needed. Both sides should find acceptable ways.