Journalism of Courage
The CBI’s raids on Delhi government offices took centre-stage in Parliament Tuesday after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal alleged he was the target. Leader of the House Arun Jaitley clarified the action wasn’t against Kejriwal but against a bureaucrat in his office, but the Opposition took up the raids — besides the Arunachal Pradesh governor’s alleged “interference” in the functioning of the state government — and forced multiple adjournments of the Rajya Sabha.
The raids came up after an initial disruption by Congress MPs over the Arunachal Pradesh governor having convened an assembly session without consulting the state government.
It was the Trinamool Congress, whose bond with AAP has been growing stronger and stronger, that raised the Delhi raid in the House. Trinamool MP Derek O’Brien alleged the raid was an “attack on the federal structure” and represented an “undeclared Emergency” in the country. Left parties and JD(U) rose in a show of support.
Jaitley said, “He (O’Brien) hasn’t been correctly informed. The CM’s office has not been raided. It has nothing to do with his (Kejriwal’s) tenure. This is regarding a complaint against an officer who is attached with the office of Mr Kejriwal.”
Kejriwal, who attacked Jaitley all day long, countered this remark with a tweet, “FM lied in Parliament. My own office files are being looked into to get some evidence against me.”
The Congress made common cause with the TMC and JD(U) with Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad saying, “The government itself is putting hurdles in the functioning of the House. A chief minister’s office is being raided during the session. This government does not want Parliament to run.”
MoS for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi urged the chair not to allow the Opposition to stall proceedings. “The business advisory committee has decided that Parliament will function till late. Let them keep shouting slogans till late night but don’t adjourn the House.”
The House was adjourned four times in the morning. In the afternoon session, the Congress once again raised the Arunachal governor’s alleged interfernce. Anand Sharma said, “The office of the governor of Arunachal Pradesh is being misused to destabilise a constitutionally elected government.”
While deputy chairman P J Kurien criticised the protests as “undemocratic”, the House did not discuss either of the bills listed — SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill and Whistle Blowers Protection Bill. Naqvi blamed the Congress MPs for creating “a new issue every day” and “making an issue out of a non- issue”.
