The passage of the Government of National Capital Territory (GNCT) Bill sets the stage for a new cycle of confrontation between the Centre and the Delhi government. The new law circumscribes the already limited powers divested by the GNCT 1991 to the elected government. It does this by emphasising that “the expression ‘government’ referred to in any law to be made by the Legislative Assembly shall mean the Lieutenant Governor (L-G)”, drastically expanding the Centre’s powers. To a layperson, Delhi looks like any other Indian state, given that it has an assembly and a chief minister. In reality, it is a Union Territory (UT), despite the 69th amendment transferring limited powers to an elected government in 1991. All successive central governments continued to retain control over land, police and public order, with power exercised via the L-G.
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