Delhi Services Bill passes Lok Sabha test amid Opposition walkout

YSRCP, BJD support govt; AAP member suspended; Parliament logjam ends

The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the Delhi Services Bill by a voice vote amid a walkout by Opposition parties. The Biju Janata Dal (BJD), YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), and Shiromani Akali Dal, which are aligned with neither of the two big alliances, supported the government on the Bill.

Developments during the day suggested that normalcy would return for the remainder of the monsoon session of Parliament. The session is left with six working days and ends on August 11.

The support of the YSRCP and BJD will be crucial for the contentious Bill’s passage next week in the Rajya Sabha. The government lacks a simple majority in the Upper House. The two parties together have 18 MPs in the Rajya Sabha. BJD’s Pinaki Misra said his party continued to fight the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the ground in Odisha, but supported the Bill since the Centre had certain exclusive jurisdiction over Delhi under the Constitution. He said his party would oppose the Opposition’s no-confidence motion too as it was not “warranted” at the current juncture.

While the morning session was disrupted on the Manipur issue, the Rajya Sabha passed three Bills, including the Advocates (Amendment), Press and Registration of Periodicals and Offshore Areas Mineral (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bills. Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar met Opposition MPs during the day to break the logjam in the House.

In the Lok Sabha, Speaker Om Birla didn’t attend the morning session but returned to his seat after Opposition MPs assured him they would cooperate to ensure the House ran smoothly. Twenty-six MPs participated in the over four-hour-long debate on the Bill.

After the House passed the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, the Speaker suspended Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sushil Singh Rinku from the House for the rest of the session due to his unruly conduct. After the Bill’s passage, Rinku came to the well of the house, tore some papers, and threw them in the direction of the Speaker. Rinku is a new entrant to the Lok Sabha, elected in a bypoll in May and took oath on July 20, the first day of the monsoon session.

Speaking on the Bill, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said Delhi was a Union Territory and Parliament had the authority to make laws for the national capital. He said the AAP was opposing the Bill to conceal its corruption. Shah said the rest of the Opposition alliance was opportunistic in opposing the Bill. He said the Opposition alliance opposed the Bill merely to support its new ally, the AAP, but the Arvind Kejriwal-led party would soon ditch them.

Shah questioned the Opposition alliance, which he referred to as the latest UPA (United Progressive Alliance) rather than its new name of INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance), for disrupting proceedings on the issue of Manipur but joining the discussion on the Bill. He said it was for political considerations, to keep their alliance intact rather than any concern for democracy. The government brought the Bill to replace the ordinance in May that overturned the Supreme Court judgment handing over control of "services" in the NCT administration to the Delhi government.

Shah said first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, B R Ambedkar, and Congress leaders Sardar Patel, C Rajagopalchari, and Rajendra Prasad opposed full statehood to Delhi.