Stating that all powers of Punjab have been “outsourced” to the Delhi unit of the Aam Aadmi Party, Shiromani Akali Dal Lok Sabha MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Thursday claimed in Parliament that it was ironic for the party to seek more powers for Delhi when its Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was practically ruling the state of Punjab.

In a fiery speech in the Lok Sabha on Thursday during a discussion for the consideration and passage of the Government of National Capital Territory on Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023, Badal said that there was nothing new in what the proposed legislation stated. “Everything stated in this Bill has already been implemented in Punjab. The state is already under the control of Mr Kejriwal. A leader of a small union territory is ruling the state of Punjab,” she claimed.

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Badal said that Kejriwal was seeking more powers in Delhi but has suppressed all powers in Punjab. “Be it the selection of the DGP, AGP, Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary, they are all decided by Kejriwal. Even the Rajya Sabha seats from Punjab are occupied by people from Delhi.”

Union Home minister Amit Shah today tabled the GNCTD(Amendment) Bill, 2023 in Lok Sabha, seeking to replace the ordinance for control of services in Delhi. Introducing the Bill, the Home minister said that the Parliament has the right to make laws on any issue related to the National Capital Territory of Delhi. “There are provisions in the Constitution that allow the Centre to make laws for Delhi,” Shah said as he appealed to the Opposition not to back the “corruption in Delhi” just because they are now in an alliance.

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Doubling down on the attack against Kejriwal and his party, Harsimrat Badal said that when the state of Punjab was battling floods, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was roaming the country “like a driver” to the AAP convener.

“When the people of Punjab were urging their chief minister to save their lives, our CM was shaking hands with Rahul Gandhi on stage in Karnataka,” she said, alleging that funds from Punjab were being used to boost Kejriwal’s image.

“Punjab’s money is being spent on sparkling Kejriwal’s image. Advertisements are being issued from Kanyakumari to Kashmir in newspapers worth crores,” she said.

Badal further said that the Congress and AAP have joined hands in an unholy alliance only to keep the Akali Dal out of power. “It is amazing. In Punjab, the ruling party and the Opposition party have become one. The cat is out of the bag. They were always together. Now it has been proven. They (AAP) cry about ED and CBI here while the Congress in Punjab claims that the vigilance department is behind us. The Congres sparty has totally discarded its Punjab unit and they all are coming together for an unholy alliance.”

Badal further called for an end to the “institutionalised robbery” in Punjab. She also claimed that Punjab was the highest spender on Facebook ads during the Gujarat elections.

Responding to the Centre’s arguments in favour of the Bill, Kejriwal today said that it is a Bill that will render the people of Delhi helpless. “Today in the Lok Sabha, I heard Amit Shah ji speaking on the bill which snatches away the rights of the people of Delhi. They do not have a single valid argument to support the bill. Just talking nonsense here and there. They also know that they are doing wrong. This bill is to enslave the people of Delhi. There is a bill that makes them helpless. INDIA will never let this happen,” he said.