AAP’s chasing a ‘federalism’ fantasy – Constitution does empower Centre with far greater powers than states
AAP activists organised a march to the PM house on June 17.
Unlike other Delhi Assemblies, the Aam Aadmi Party leaders had little confidence in the Lieutenant Governors (LG) of Delhi who represented the Union government.
This was for two reasons.
Firstly, the AAP and Najeeb Jung, an LG from a prominent Delhi family, considered him as the arbiter of the National Capital Region (NCR) and the Delhi Union Territory as empowered by Article 239AA. It is clearly stated, “that in the case of difference of opinion between a Lieutenant Governor and his Ministers on any matter, the Lieutenant Governor shall refer it to the President for decision and act according to the decision given thereon by the President...”
In practice, Presidents go by the Lieutenant Governor’s advice, with both consulting the Union Ministry. Article 239AA specifically states that when the LG “in any case where the matter, in his opinion, is so urgent that it is necessary for him to take immediate action, to take such action or given such direction in the matter as he deems necessary.”
This doesn’t give AAP any major powers or the ability of overriding the LG, who is backed by the President. Compared to the states, who also have a deficit of power as major powers in the (quasi-federal) Constitution Union List (97 powers) plus the priority to the Union in Concurrent List (47 powers) equals, excluding the State list, a total of 144 powers – much more than the State List of 66 powers.
The famous federalist Professor KC Wheare termed Indian federalism as “quasi-federal.”
The only real federal power was the exception – Article 370, which Jawaharlal Nehru piloted and later substantially diluted, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi did the rest.
In any case, the federal process was also impacted negatively by the Government of India Act of 1935, which was based on the unitary British government’s history and functioning.
The four opposition leaders who recently called on Arvind Kejriwal, the feisty Delhi CM, spoke of the need to preserve “cooperative federalism.”
But does that really exist?
However, the fact remains that Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu, Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy and Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee all came to express solidarity with Arvind Kejriwal.
Delhi LG Anil Baijal has so far avoided Kejriwal.
The request by the Delhi CM is that the civil service return to stabilise and renew the process of the Delhi administration. But civil service officers know well that service rules cannot be flouted on the grounds variously sounded by the LG. The LG Anil Baijal happens to be an alumnus of the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF), which is reportedly part of the Sangh Parivar, therefore, the suspicions of the AAP.
However, in any case, LG Baijal is unlikely to fail to report on what is happening in the Delhi Government, which is one of his major functions.
This, in effect, means that Kejriwal is taking on the Union government.
AAP is clearly aware of all this – which is why it has pushed for its proposal for a reduced Delhi state, leaving critical areas for the Union government. However, of all the political parties, the Bharatiya Jana Sangh and now, the BJP, have from the beginning supported a strong Centre. So, this AAP gambit is unlikely to get much traction.
The secular opposition, the Congress, is hostile to AAP and Kejriwal, whom it sees as a rival, since the Congress’s losing to the “party of hope” in the 2013 and 2015 elections. AAP was ahead in the MCD elections too.
A quick addition showed that if the Congress and AAP had formed an alliance, they would have had a higher vote share than the BJP.
But such is the hostility that the Congress leader Ajay Maken welcomed the disqualification of 20 AAP MLAs from the Delhi Assembly. As is usual among most politicians, he also did not welcome the Delhi High Court order, rejecting the failure of the Chief Election Commissioner for not hearing out the AAP candidates.
And as far as the bureaucracy is concerned, AAP has to mend its fences, and express regrets whenever necessary, for example, over the long midnight incarceration of Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash. There was no such pressing need to so prolong his ordeal.
But the civil service also has its rules and obligations, and it is also an inestimable store of knowledge, rules and precedents. No Delhi government can function adequately without them. It is high time as well for LG Anil Baijal, a prominent civil servant himself in his tenure, to help resolve this issue. Surely the honourable President need not be approached.
On a final note, I would humbly suggest that, apart from sorting out this issue soonest, the Delhi government immediately chart out several contentious issues. The Constitution is clear. Arvind Kejriwal and AAP, and the citizens of Delhi, can benefit greatly by following it, despite the lack of the powers of the state. The fact is, states are relatively powerless compared to the Union, commonly called “the Centre” for good reasons.