The turf wars between Delhi chief ministers and the central government has now become a time-honoured tradition. The tension has been palpable ever since Delhi became a state in 1993 with BJP's Madan Lal Khurana as its first CM.
And now, with Arvind Kejriwal and Narendra Modi at the helm of affairs in Delhi and the Centre, respectively, things are getting nastier than ever.
In an apparent power tussle, Kejriwal has struck the first official blow against the Centre and has targeted Delhi's Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung.
Compared to the governors of other states, who are unofficially called rubber-stamps, Jung has been vested with substantial executive powers. The governor enjoys absolute control in terms of decisions pertaining to land in Delhi.
Furthermore, the governor can also exercise his discretion in money matters as anything that costs more than Rs 10 crore needs his approval. Even legal bills can't be introduced in the Legislative Assembly without the governor's permission.
Upset by the fact that he has very little powers despite winning 67 of the 70 seats, Kejriwal has directed bureaucrats not to send major files to the Lieutenant Governor, saying Jung's office should not “be bothered”.
However, Jung has told all the departments that they should continue the practice of sending files to him. Now, bureaucrats are at the end of their tether, caught in the crossfire between the CM and the Lieutenant Governor.
Unlike other states, the IAS officers in Delhi are accountable to both Centre and state governments and hence, the babus are in real trouble. All thanks to then Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, who, while granting Delhi's demand for statehood, decreed in the early 1990s that it cannot be given same powers as other states, since it is the national capital.
Rao and his Home Minister S.B. Chavan convinced Parliament that decisions concerning land, law and order, expenditure and posting of senior officials should remain with the central government – A law that never went down well with Delhi Cms.
Sheila Dikshit, during her fifteen year stint as the chief minister, had frequently complained that Delhi Police was unaccountable. When there were protests over the Nirbhaya incident, Dixit had openly criticised the Delhi police. In his earlier stint as CM which lasted just 49 days, Kejriwal had staged a dharna against the Delhi police for its apathy towards human trafficking.
The Delhi CM has also demanded a say in the posting of middle and junior level officers, which Union Home Minsiter Rajnath Singh has refused to concede. Kejriwal has alleged that BJP MPs were controlling the Delhi police, even though they lost the Assembly elections.
Seems like the tussle will continue unabated. Jung has the support of the law as against Kejriwal's massive mandate in Delhi. Be that as it may, AAP has no strength in Parliament for changing the law in its favour.
Nevertheless, the bigger question is whether Delhi, which is the most populous city struggling with pollution and unemployment woes, can afford to bear the brunt of this tug of war.
Tail-piece: Narendra Modi, who is keen on diluting the concentration of central government institutions in Delhi, has asked the department of administrative reforms to prepare a report on shifting some government offices out of the capital.