Kejriwal’s fight to stay relevant, a deadlocked administration and an upcoming election: What happens to Delhi’s voter this February?

One can take the view that the officers have overreached their authority by issuing press warnings amounting to public defiance of elected representatives. But what most people forget is how much the Government of NCT of Delhi’s powers stand reduced when compared to what existed between 1993 and 2013, when the BJP and Congress were in power. During the pre-AAP days, although all chief ministers chafed and complained about the fetters placed on their functioning, they enjoyed much greater authority and freedom than Kejriwal’s ministers do today.

It is ironic that it was Kejriwal who first took the issue of statehood and the powers of the Delhi government to the streets and then to the courts. In doing so, he may have precipitated the issue of an Ordinance which excluded “services” (officers), from the purview of Delhi legislature. The elected government is now virtually powerless. This is because of the ordinance’s ratification by Parliament and the amendment to the GNCTD Act, 1991 to define “government” of GNCT of Delhi to mean L-G.

As matters stand, in the absence of a stay or the Supreme Court striking down the impugned legislation, Delhi’s ministers can do no more than occupy ministerial chairs (and houses), fight elections, make promises to the citizens, and get visibility by opening new facilities and services for public benefit. But they cannot ensure implementation of their orders without the L-G’s approval. The two legislative amendments to the GNCT Act 1991, introduced in 2021 and 2023, have made it incumbent on officers to get L-G’s approval for everything substantive.

Given this predicament, Kejriwal needed to do something stimulating to create a buzz before the impending Assembly elections in February 2025. Since the constitutional validity of the amended NCT of Delhi Acts will not get decided before the Delhi election is announced in the next few days, and the model code of conduct will apply at once, he has to reinvent ways to still be visible, relevant, and worth voting for.

The earlier bonanzas which Kejriwal pushed through, namely free or subsidised electricity and water, and more recently unlimited free bus transport for women, have now become entitlements. Brand-new promises of more than Rs 2,000 every month to all non-tax paying women and free medical treatment to all citizens above 60 years of age carry both novelty and appeal. Most families in Delhi would have one or more women or elderly members or both, and with no income ceilings, or inclusion and exclusion conditionalities, the announcements sound like windfalls.

According to the AAP’s own rider, the promises will only see fruition if the AAP gets re-elected. But that has not deterred citizens from expressing joy and hope. The announcements expose a disturbing trend of incentivising voters with cash and subsidies, without following due process; but the difference with the chief ministers that took this route is that they were heading full-fledged states, while Delhi is still a Union territory and officers are under the Ministry of Home Affairs which is their controlling authority for postings, promotions and discipline. In the absence of an official notification and laying down uniform processes for implementation, it was indeed premature to start registration of applications — that too by using non-official channels. The promise to give a monthly dole to women might have gone through without much ado, but it is by starting registration of applicants’ that things have become shambolic.

The verbal guarantee announced by the CM to provide free medical treatment for all Delhiites over 60 years is however intrinsically problematic. Delhi has around 23 lakh senior citizens. Offering them unrestricted access to free treatment at both government and private hospitals without defining the scope — whether it includes diagnostics, hospitalisation, consultations, devices, and drugs – makes it impossible even as an idea. With no clarity on how expenditure to support such extravagance can be sustained, to start the process of registering applications can cause confusion. In dealing with medical treatment, it can be dangerous.

Quite clearly, Kejriwal is trying to still be relevant and is relying on the success he has had with earlier handouts and subsidies. He is fortunate that voters are unaware of just how little power the elected government has today. How far this ignorance will help the AAP during voting is not known. But as they fight the election, all candidates need to exude confidence, not share their misery.

Kejriwal’s ministers and officers in the Delhi government and whichever dispensation that takes over in February 2025 must consult, communicate, and harmonise relations with the bureaucracy. Continuing stand-offs and confrontation display an absence of sagacity and mutual respect for each other’s role. Because, in the end, it is not about who is right — it is about building bridges that can ensure meaningful governance and delivery.

The writer is former secretary in the Ministry of Health