'Your Chickens Have Come Home': Omar Abdullah Taunts Delhi Govt Over Ordinance Row With Centre

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Saturday said it was a “travesty” how the Centre passed the controversial ordinance regaining control over Delhi officers from the Aam Aadmi Party government. However, he also took a swipe at the Kejriwal government for not realising the “danger of its actions” while supporting the Centre on the scrapping of Article 370.

On Friday, the BJP-led Centre passed a contentious ordinance for National Capital Civil Service Authority, restoring its power over bureaucrats in the capital city, a week after the Supreme Court ruled that the Delhi government has control over postings and transfers of bureaucrats.

Subsequently, AAP’s national spokesperson Raghav Chadha called out the “brazen assault” on democratic principles of the country. He tweeted about how any state that votes a non-BJP government to power is “stripped of its legislature and transformed into a centrally administered territory”.

Reacting to that, Abdullah said that the Union government’s move “goes against the spirit of cooperative federalism”.

“That said Raghav, it’s a shame the AAP didn’t realise the danger of its actions when it happily sided with the BJP in Aug 2019. J&K was dismembered & reduced to a union territory & the people have been disenfranchised for 5 years. Sadly your chickens have come home to roost now.”

AAP supremo and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had in 2019 tweeted in support of the BJP-led Centre’s move to scrap the special status of Jammu and Kashmir with the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution.

The tug-of-war between the Delhi government and the Lieutenant Governor intensified again as the Centre decided to take away the government’s authority over service officers.

According to the ordinance, "there shall be an authority to be known as the National Capital Civil Service Authority to exercise the powers conferred on, and discharge the functions assigned to it".

"All matters required to be decided by the authority shall be decided by majority of votes of the members present and voting. All recommendations of the authority shall be authenticated by the member secretary," it said.

It also stated that the central government, in consultation with the authority, will determine the nature and the categories of officers and employees and provide the authority with such officers and employees, “as it may deem fit”.

Abhishek Singhvi, who is the Delhi government's counsel in the services matter, said that the Delhi government will challenge the new ordinance in the top court.