Kejriwal slams Governors for "indefinitely holding Bills", says they obstruct administration "as per their whims"

New Delhi [India], April 15 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday hit out at Governors and Lieutenant Governors of the non-BJP ruled states and Union Territories alleging that they are "indefinitely holding Bills passed by Legislative Assemblies", marking a "violation of our constitutional scheme".

Kejriwal alleged that the Governors are wilfully undermining democratically-elected governments and obstructing administration as per their whims.

In a letter to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin dated April 15, the Delhi chief minister lauded the state Assembly for passing the Resolution urging the Union Government and President Droupadi Murmu to fix a time limit for Governors to approve the Bills passed by respective Legislature. He said the Delhi government will also introduce a similar resolution in the Assembly in the upcoming session.

"The fact that the Governors/Lt. Governors of non-BJP ruled governments are indefinitely holding Bills passed by Legislative Assemblies or files sent by the Government of NCT of Delhi (GNCTD) is not only a violation of our constitutional scheme, but also a disrespect for the people's mandate which is supreme in any democracy," he wrote.

Citing the national capital where the AAP government has been in conflict with the Lieutenant Governor over a raft of issues, Kejriwal said the Lt. Governor has regularly meddled with the democratic mandate of Delhi's Legislature.

"...blocked the presentation of Delhi's Budget and going even further to bring day-to-day executive functioning of the GNCTD to a standstill under the guise of the unconstitutional 2021 amendment to the GNCTD Act," Kejriwal wrote.

"The interface of state governments and their Governors/Lt. Governors has effectively become a battlefront where a silent war is being waged by the Union Government," he added.

Kejriwal said it is "high time" that the parties unequivocally highlight that India is governed by the rule of law, and "not by the writ of the Central government and its representatives".

"I commend the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly for taking a firm stand against these centralising tendencies by passing the Resolution urging the Union Government and the President of India to fix a time limit for the Governors to approve the Bills passed by respective Legislature. In this spirit, I will table a similar resolution in the Delhi Vidhan Sabha in the upcoming session urging the Centre to fix time limits for Governors and Lt. Governors to carry out their constitutional functions," he wrote.

The Delhi chief minister called for collectively resisting action to "decimate or obliterate state/ NCT governments".