Union Home Minister Amit Shah will move the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023, in Rajya Sabha on August 7. Earlier on August 3, the Lok Sabha passed the Bill to replace the ordinance on transfers and postings of senior officers in the Delhi government. The bill was passed in Lok Sabha amid vociferous protests by opposition MPs. Shah while tabling the bill asserted that Parliament is empowered to make laws for Delhi and termed the objection to it "politically motivated".
The proposed legislation, which gives the Delhi Lieutenant Governor a final say on the transfer and posting of officials of the city government, will strengthen the Central government's control over the national capital. The bill was approved by the Union Cabinet on July 25.
The Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the past couple of months had reached out to several opposition leaders to drum up support against the bill. The AAP government has urged various opposition leaders to get it blocked in Rajya Sabha, where the NDA is short of numbers on its own. Kejriwal-led AAP government has also challenged the ordinance in the Supreme Court.
According to a report of PTI, a source said that Senior Congress leader and Supreme Court lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi is likely to initiate the debate from the opposition side in the Rajya Sabha.
Singhvi had represented the Delhi government in the Supreme Court in the matter related to the control of administrative services.
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