The suspension of two Delhi government officers – the Sub-Registrar of Kapashera and the Tehsildar of Mehrauli – led to a spat Tuesday morning between the BJP and AAP.
Aam Aadmi Party leader Saurabh Bharadwaj questioned Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on the issue, asking if her administration actually had the authority to suspend the officers.
Bharadwaj pointed out sarcastically that when the AAP was in power the Lieutenant Governor – the centre’s representative in the national capital – claimed that right and acted on recommendations by the National Capital Civil Service Authority, or NCCSA.
“… but the elected Delhi government never had the power to suspend any officer. During AAP rule, it was a committee called NCCSA that sent recommendations to the Lieutenant Governor… and then it was up to him to decide. Is it a banana republic?”
He was reacting to a note from the Chief Minister’s Office confirming the suspension. In her statement, Gupta said her government would not tolerate corruption at any level. “If an officer is found negligent or involved in corruption, he or she has no right to remain in service…”
Control over bureaucrats in the city has been a point of contention between the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled federal government and its arch rival, which controlled the Delhi government for 11 years till it lost the 2025 election. This led to vitriolic arguments between the two sides.
This round was triggered by the suspension of two officials after repeated complaints.
Bharadwaj drove home his point in more X posts, including one with a screenshot of a news report from July 2016 with the headline – ‘(Arvind) Kejriwal can’t suspend any Delhi government official: MHA’. “Is the opposition in Delhi meant to school BJP ministers… Here is what your Ministry of Home Affairs said about powers of elected Government of Delhi to suspend officers.”
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