Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said the Bill to unify the three municipal corporations is as per the Constitution and the Central government has the right to introduce legislation relating to the Union Territory.
Shah said while replying to the discussion on the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 that was later passed in Lok Sabha.
The Opposition had alleged that the MCD bill introduced in the Lok Sabha is against the spirit of federalism.
"I would like to tell you that this Bill is as per the Constitution and it is absolutely a Constitutional Bill. Since Delhi is a Union Territory, Govt of India has the right to bring any legislation relating to it," Shah said.
"Talks are being held about the rights of states. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal speaks the same...I can't bring such a Bill for Maharashtra, Gujarat, or Bengal. Neither I nor Centre can do it in the states. But if you don't know the difference between a state and UT, I think Constitution needs to be studied again," the Home Minister added.
Shah further stressed that the Bill introduced is "within the powers vested into the Parliament as per Section 239 AA of the Constitution".
The Home Minister also slammed the Kejriwal government and said that "Rs 40,500 crore was to be given to the three MCDs as per the fifth Finance Commission, however, the Aam Aadmi Party government gave less than Rs 7,000 crores."
The Aam Aadmi Party has repeatedly accused the BJP of bringing in the bill in the Parliament to halt the MCD elections in Delhi alleging that the saffron party is "scared of polls".
Shah hit out at the Aam Aadmi Party for posing the allegations and said that they (AAP) themselves are scared.
"Those who are saying that elections (MCD polls) have been postponed due to fear of polls, themselves are scared. If you are so confident of the victory then why do you want elections right now? If you have done good work, you will win six months later too," he said.
Shah hit out at Congress for the Emergency that was imposed in the country in 1975 by the Indira Gandhi government and said that it was done due to fear of losing the polls.
"We're not scared of polls. I'll tell you what's done when polls are feared. Allahabad HC had cancelled the election of Indira Gandhi. Soon after, a PM, that didn't have the right to vote in this House, snatched away democratic rights in the country and imposed an Emergency. That's fear," Shah said.
( With inputs from ANI )
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor