"I am an elected chief minister, not a terrorist," Arvind Kejriwal said on Wednesday while dramatically hitting out at Lt Governor Anil Baijal for opposing the bill to regularise guest teachers in Delhi.
"Hum Delhi ke maalik hai (we are Delhi's masters), not the bureaucracy" he asserted at one point, which was greeted with loud cheers and table-thumping by the Aam Aadmi Party MLAs.
He was taking part in a discussion on a bill introduced in the Assembly to regularise the employment of around 15,000 guest teachers (working on contractual basis) in Delhi’s government-run schools. The bill was later passed by the House through voice vote.
Registering his objection, Baijal had said that matters relating to 'services' fall beyond the competence of the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, and that the proposed legislation was not in accordance with the constitutional scheme.
Kejriwal alleged that the files relating to the regularisation of the teachers were never shown to Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who also holds the education portfolio, by the officials on the direction of the LG.
The AAP chief's combative speech, something he is known for, comes after a long gap when he remained unusually quiet, even on social media, refraining from attacking the opposition or Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Kejriwal also took exception to Baijal's objection that the government did not consult the Law Department before introducing the Bill.
Since storming to power in 2015, the AAP and the bureaucracy have shared an uneasy relationship with frequent run-ins over matters of jurisdiction, mainly due to the capital's administrative structure where the LG enjoys primacy over the elected CM.
Sisodia affirmed that the bill was introduced after due legal consultations and wondered why the LG was objecting to it when he had cleared the government's proposal to regularise the services of around 150 Kashmiri migrant teachers employed in the city's schools on contractual basis since 1994.
During the debate, Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta said the AAP government's real intention was not regularisation, but politicisation of the issue, for which it "has not actually followed the laid down procedures governing a bill."
"The foundation of the bill is flawed. One has to go by the rule of law, not rhetoric," Gupta said, when "invited" by Kejriwal to sort out the issues and bring amendments by sitting across the table at his chamber.
Reacting to Gupta's objection, Kejriwal said that through his offer of an instant dialogue, he wanted to expose the "hollowness" of the opposition.
Gupta hit back saying Kejriwal may be a good politician, but not a capable administrator. A few guest teachers were present at the visitors' gallery of the House during the debate.
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