'If PM Modi wishes to win Delhi..', says Kejriwal after Delhi budget put on hold
1 min read 21 Mar 2023, 05:33 PM ISTKejriwal further stated that Lieutenant Governor (LG) has no constitutional right to make an objection to the budget.
PremiumDelhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said that if PM Modi wishes to win Delhi, he will have to win the hearts of the city's people first, as reported by PTI.
Speaking to the media, Kejriwal said, "Centre has given the consent over Delhi budget. This proves that his ego has been satisfied. We do not want any fight with the Centre. We want to work together for the betterment of Delhi."
Earlier, while speaking at the Legislative Assembly of Delhi where he stressed, “When Baba Saheb Ambedkar was writing the constitution, he would not have ever dreamt that the Centre would stop the budget of any state. It is an attack on the constitution of this country."
Kejriwal further stated that Lieutenant Governor (LG) has no constitutional right to make an objection to the budget. “Supreme court 2018 order says that LG of Delhi is bound by aid and advice of the council of the minister."
As per a PTI report, the presentation of the Delhi government's Budget for 2023-24, scheduled for Tuesday, has been put on hold with the Arvind Kejriwal-led dispensation and the central government trading charges over allocations under various heads.
As the chief minister lashed out at the Centre, sources in the MHA said the ministry has sought a clarification from the AAP government as its budget proposal had high allocations for advertisement and relatively low funding for infrastructure and other development initiatives.
Earlier on Monday, during a News 18 programme, Kejriwal accused the central government of engaging in "gundagardi" (hooliganism) and claimed that it was unprecedented in the history of India for a government's budget to be delayed.
Arvind Kejriwal has criticized the Centre for halting the budget proposal, while the Delhi Finance Minister, Kailash Gahlot, has denied the accusations, stating that the total budget size was ₹78,800 crore, out of which ₹22,000 crore was allocated for infrastructure expenditure and only ₹550 crore for advertisements.
The ongoing budget session of the Assembly is scheduled to conclude on March 23.
(With inputs from PTI)
