- By Shivam Shandilya
- Sat, 15 Apr 2023 06:04 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
DELHI Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday wrote a letter to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin regarding the tussle of the state government with the Governor RN Rai. He also said that "Democracy in India is suffering blows every single day".
We condemn the actions of Centre & its representatives to usurp & constrain powers of non-BJP State Govts. I support Shri @mkstalin's efforts. We will also table a resolution in Delhi Vidhan Sabha urging the Centre to fix time limits for Governors/LG to carry out their functions. pic.twitter.com/jHizPTmL0U
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) April 15, 2023
"The fact that the Governors/Lt Governors of non-BJP ruled governments are indefinitely holding Bills passed by Legislative Assemblies or files sent by the Government of NCT of Delhi is not only a violation of our constitutional scheme, but also a disrespect for the people's mandate which is supreme in any democracy," Kejriwal said.
The AAP convenor, Kejriwal, wrote the letter a day before he was summoned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). in connection with the Delhi excise policy case. It was later scrapped amid allegations of kickbacks received by the party to give an advantage to certain liquor companies.
Speaking about the stand-off between the AAP and Delhi LG, Kejriwal wrote, "The situation we are faced in Delhi is further exacerbated by the fact that the Lt Governor has regularly meddled with the democratic mandate of Delhi's Legislature, blocked the presentation of Delhi's Budget and going even further to bring day-to-day executive functioning of the GNCTD to a standstill... ."
Meanwhile, the Kejriwal government has called a special session of the assembly on Monday to discuss the summons to the chief minister by the probe body.
Earlier, Stalin had passed a resolution against Governor R N Ravi in the state Assembly on Monday, demanding that the Centre and the President of India set a time frame for governors to decide on files cleared by elected governments. He had also written a letter to the CMs of non-BJP ruled states. It is likely that Kejriwal has called the special session of the assembly to pass a resolution demanding a time limit for the governors.
Former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, a key aide of Kejriwal, is in jail over alleged irregularities in the excise policy case.
Sisodia was arrested by the ED and CBI in the ongoing investigation of a case related to alleged irregularities in the framing and implementation of the excise policy in Delhi.
The CBI arrested Sisodia on February 26, 2023. Later on March 9, the ED arrested him, after hours of questioning at Tihar Jail.
The ED and the CBI had alleged that irregularities were committed while modifying the excise policy, undue favours were extended to licence holders, the licence fee was waived or reduced, and the L-1 licence was extended without the competent authority's approval.