Last week, a glorious chapter in governance in India was reduced to a sad reminder of the dwindling space for democracy and federalism in our country, when – in an unprecedented breach of constitutional morality – Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena 'gate-crashed' the inauguration of the East Delhi campus of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, with the help of the Delhi Police and a group of bureaucrats.
'Gate-crashed' is a strong word. But nothing else can adequately describe the LG's brazen abuse of power.
The said project is funded by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Delhi government – and the LG was appointed when the project was nearing completion. He virtually had no role in its implementation.
Regardless, he used his officials and police to 'hijack' the event and resorted to 'heckling' Arvind Kejriwal, the elected Chief Minister of Delhi.
The LG was purportedly caught on camera trying to push the CM away from the inauguration rope. The police, meanwhile, allegedly took no action against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers who were seen disrupting the event.
Abuse of Power
While the BJP has often been accused of subverting propriety and being hostile towards its political rivals on multiple occasions, on the day of the inauguration, something deeper than propriety was assaulted.
At its root, democracy is about the justified use of power for the public good by elected and not selected functionaries. But was the public good served in diverting precious police personnel (already struggling to control the out-of-control law and order situation in Delhi) to disrupt an elected CM's function?
This incident was a testament to the LG's attempt to turn Delhi into a police state. He is using his control over the police and services not for the public good but to blatantly interfere in public welfare activities. In other words, the same anarchy that is reigning supreme in BJP-controlled Manipur is being employed in Delhi, too.
What we saw that day was criminality and hooliganism parading as state action. It reveals a worrying trend of misuse of power, unmitigated partisanship, and zero accountability. The same is underscored in the BJP's approach to the wrestlers' protest, the Adani scam, and the Balasore railway accident.
An Assault on Federalism
When an LG uses his office to diminish the power of an elected CM, it reflects a new low in Centre-state ties. Worryingly, we have grown used to such routine assaults on Indian federalism.
The Centre's tactics range from seizing files in the name of investigations to mandating governors to destabilise Opposition-ruled states by sitting on bills, not convening Assembly sessions, issuing public statements against them, and directly issuing directions to bureaucrats, bypassing the elected government.
Recently, it also used financial infringements to weaken state autonomy. In the last month alone, it has waged a financial war against Punjab and Kerala by reducing their loan limit by Rs 18,000 crore and Rs 32,000 crore, respectively.
These assaults not just reflect the BJP's inability to respect people's mandate in favour of its rivals, but also its intentions to hurt India's growth into a strong, independent state.
Good Governance an Empty Slogan?
What this 'credit hijacking' attempt has revealed is the BJP's lack of confidence in its own governance ability. Instead of really trying to do something better in a state where the party is in power, all it could do was claim its rival's work.
This lack of positive competitiveness revealed through this incident is dangerous to our nation.
Governance suffers when state institutions like the police and bureaucracy are subverted in such a partisan manner. It erodes public trust and cooperation with them.
The Delhi Police is not the BJP's private army meant to protect its volunteers who create ruckus at public events, but a force meant to maintain law and order for all Delhiites, including those who do not support the BJP.
The BJP's diversion of a public institution deprives Delhi's populace of crucial public services, as instead of serving the people, these institutions become vested in serving the BJP. This trend is not specific to Delhi.
Our silence has emboldened the BJP to be more brazen with each such effort. The heart of India is too close to our conscience to see such anarchy, assault on democracy, federalism and governance go unpunished. The democrat in me hopes that we remember that.
(The author is the National Chief Spokesperson of the Aam Aadmi Party. This is an opinion piece. The views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)
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