Ruling Delhi

With a plethora of elected and other agencies, overload of Delhi‘s governance structure has been a huge drag. In addition to 272 councilors in the erstwhile three Municipalities, 70 MLAs in the NCT government and seven MPs, there is the New Delhi Municipal Council for the cloistered Lutyens‘ zone, and Cantonment Board, not to talk of the Union government controlling its land and policing. Multiplicity of institutions, often with overlapping jurisdictions and sometimes contradictory goals, make for sub-optimal output and outcome, a lot of waste

- RAGHU DAYAL

Not just for citizens of nation’s capital city, but for countrymen at large, the constant skirmishes and running feuds between the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi and the Chief Minister have signified a theatre of the absurd. Hardly a day passes without the citizenry having to watch in dismay the unseemly duels, no holds-barred exchanges between the top AAP leadership and BJP politicos.

Adding a bizarre element to the familiar shenanigans, what has now come about by way of an ordinance promulgated by the Central government, following the 11 May judgement by Supreme Court that restored control over services to the NCT government, has brought into focus the irrelevance of the fracas that has gone on for years. While the NCT government has termed the ordinance “unconstitutional”, and challenging “the majesty of the Supreme Court”, the Central government, citing “errors” in the judgement, maintains in its review plea that the apex court’s ruling is contrary to the ninejudge bench decision in December 1996 in the NDMC vs state of Punjab case. The verdict had concluded that despite the insertion of Article 239AA (special provisions with respect to Delhi), the NCT is not elevated to the status of a state.