What Amit Shah Said In Parliament On Delhi Civic Bodies' Merger

Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday asserted that the bill to merge three municipal corporations of Delhi into a single entity does not "attack" the powers of the Union Territory, and accused the AAP government of meting out "step-motherly" treatment to the civic bodies.

Replying to the debate over the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022, in Lok Sabha, Shah slammed the Opposition for alleging that the federal structure is being attacked and rights of states were being encroached upon by the Centre, pointing out that the bill has been brought under Article 239 AA.

"Opposition talks about state's rights. I cannot bring such a bill in Maharashtra, West Bengal or Gujarat but there is a difference between state and Union Territory. Why are you trying to mislead by talking of states. This is a completely constitutional bill," the home minister said.

Accusing the Opposition of attempting to mislead, Shah said Delhi is a Union Territory and the central government has a right to legislate on such matters.

"This is their in the provisions of the Constitution. If you look at it from normal glasses like me, you will find it, but if you look at it from political glasses you will not see it," he said, taking a dig at the Opposition parties.

"This bill does not attack the powers of the Union territory, it is totally constitutional," he asserted.

On the Opposition questioning the number of councillors capped at 250, Shah said the government has reduced the number of seats and cited Mumbai's example of having 227 wards with a total two crore population.

Hitting back at the Opposition members for alleging that the BJP was scared of the municipal polls in Delhi and that is why it brought the bill, Shah said, "We don't get scared of polls." "Indira (Gandhi) ji's election was annulled by the Allahabad High Court. That PM brought in Emergency, taking away democratic rights, that is called fear. Lakhs of people were put behind bars due to fear. All editorials were decided from here. In AIR, a known singer was banned, this was fear," he said.

Those saying that the polls have been postponed due to fear are scared themselves, he added.

Shah also highlighted the poor performance of Opposition parties such as AAP and the Congress in the recent assembly polls to attack them.

"AAP contested the UP polls and on the 349 seats it contested, it lost deposits on all seats, in Uttarakhand they contested 70 seats and lost deposits on 68, contested 39 seats in Goa, lost deposit on 35. They did well in Punjab," Shah said, adding that "who should we be scared of".

"We don't need to be scared, under PM's (Narendra Modi) leadership we will win," he said.

Recalling that the BJP had two seats in Lok Sabha at one point in time, he said taunts were made 'hum do, humare do', but the party that made them has lost the status of leader of opposition, an apparent reference to the Congress.

Slamming the AAP government in Delhi, he said it was to give over Rs 40,000 crore to the municipal corporations but gave less than Rs 7,000 crore.

If the Delhi government is short of funds, then where does the money come from for so many advertisements, the lie will not last long, Shah said.

"That is why I say that this should be looked upon rising above politics," he said.

Earlier, moving the bill, Shah suggested that the trifurcation of the municipal corporation of Delhi was done in a hurry for political reasons which led to an imbalance between the income and liabilities of the civic bodies.

Being the country's capital, Rashtrapati Bhawan, Parliament, Prime Minister's Office, central secretariats, among other important offices, are in Delhi and carrying out civic services is very important here, he said and urged the House to consider the bill rising above party politics.

The AAP in Delhi has been critical of the Centre's move to bring the bill a month before the terms of the three municipal corporations are to end, claiming it was an attempt by the BJP to delay the polls as it feared defeat.

The Delhi Municipal Corporation was trifurcated in 2011 by the then Delhi government led by Sheila Dikshit to create compact municipalities aimed at providing better delivery of services.

"I tried to look for the reasons for the trifurcation, scoured through files but could not find anything on it," Shah said, adding that when there are no reasons it can be assumed that it may have been done due to political reasons.

The analyses from 2012 to 2022, made this government come to a conclusion that the corporations must be combined into one, Shah said.

Asserting that the corporations were trifurcated in a "hurry", the home minister said the three bodies run on different policies, there is no coordination between workers and due to this anomaly, dissatisfaction has also been found among them.

"I want to say with responsibility...the Delhi government is working with a step-motherly attitude towards the municipal corporations. Step motherly treatment is being meted out because of which the municipal corporations are not finding themselves equipped with adequate resources to carry out their responsibilities," Shah said.

The BJP has been ruling the municipal corporations in Delhi for the last 15 years and the AAP has been sensing an opportunity to oust it from power and strengthen its grip on the national capital.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)