'Will Kejriwal find another excuse for lethargy?': BJP welcomes SC verdict on Delhi turf war, asks AAP govt to humbly accept it

The Supreme Court’s verdict  on the turf war between the Centre and the Delhi government was welcomed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Thursday. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), on the other hand, was not as upbeat in its response.

The AAP said it was unfortunate that there was no clarity in the Supreme Court judgement that delivered a split verdict on who controls services in the National Capital Territory.

People of Delhi will continue to suffer, AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj told reporters after the Supreme Court referred the issue of clarity on division of powers between the Delhi government and the Centre to a larger bench.

On the other hand, BJP leader and Leader of Opposition in Delhi Vijender Gupta said on Twitter:

We welcome the Supreme Court decision removing ambiguities in the powers of the Delhi govt. After this verdict there shouldn’t be any scope for confusion or conflict. The Delhi govt shpuld humbly accept it & govern the capital as it was being done before they had come to power.

— Vijender Gupta (@Gupta_vijender) February 14, 2019

The BJP posted a tweet on its official handle saying, “Chief Minister Kejriwal has ruined four years of Delhi’s citizens in his quest to prove himself as the boss of Delhi. Will you (Kejriwal) now get to work, or will you find another excuse for your lethargy?”

Out of the six specific areas the Supreme Court was looking to settle, the two judges, Justice AK Sikri and Justice Ashok Bhushan, had contrasting opinions as to who wielded power on the Delhi bureaucracy. Therefore, the matter related to Services (transfer and appointments of bureaucrats, mainly in Delhi secretariat) has been referred to a larger bench. On all other matters, the two-judge bench largely gave a consensual verdict and mostly upheld the Lieutenant Governor’s stand.

With inputs from PTI