Chapter 2 Electoral History of Delhi

Transcription

1 Chapter 2

2 CHAPTER 2 ELECTORAL HISTORY OF DELHI 2.1 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Delhi has been the nerve center of India since ages. According to Traditional inscription found in one of the Delhi s village Sarban, Delhi was founded by Tomaras and the Tunvar Rajputs. There after Delhi flourished as the center of Hindu Empire and grew in importance because of its strategic position. At the end of the 12 th centuary it passed into the hands of many conquerors. Qutab-ub-Din son-in-law of Illtutmush in 1220 A.D. made Delhi the capital of his Empire. Then came the rule of Khiljis followed by those of Tughlaqs. Zahir-ud-din Mohammad Babar the founder of Mughal Empire in India who invaded India in 1526 A.D. made Delhi his provincial city. During Akbar s reign, Delhi formed a part of the Suba. Delhi was first constituted as a territory in 1803 when General Lake defeated the Marathas in a battle at Patparganj, captured Delhi and brought the Mughal Emperor, Shah Alam, under his control. The city, along with the neighbouring territory known as the assigned tract comprising (subject to some exceptions) the districts of Hissar, Rohtak, Gurgaon, Delhi and Karnal was placed under the charge of an officer designated as Resident and Chief Commissioner of Delhi. 1 The actual division of Delhi s territory into districts was made in The district of Delhi as then constituted consisted of two parganas the Northern and the Southern. The history of Indian Legislature can trace back to 1861, when it was created after the sepoy-mutiny, with nominated elements in order to keep the government informed about popular grievances. Revolution of 1857 led to the passing of the Act for the good government in 1858, which replaced the era of East India Company s rule, and the British Parliament directly took responsibility to rule the country. After the revolt of 1857, the Delhi territory was annexed to the newly formed Lt. Governorship of the Punjab. On December 12, 1911 when the change of Capital from Calcutta to Delhi 1 Delhi Gazetteer ( ), p

3 was announced, Delhi tahsil and Mehrauli thana were separated from the Punjab and organized into a separate Province of Delhi headed by a Commissioner. Delhi continued to be a centrally administered territory under the provisions of the Government of India Act of 1919 and Various Indian administrative units, now known as states, were termed as provinces under the Government of India Act Some of the provinces relatively smaller in size were being run under the control of Chief Commissioner instead of Governors. Constitution of India transformed almost all these chief commissioner s provinces into part C states. On January 26, 1950 Delhi became a Part C State under the new Constitution. It had full-fledged legislative assembly but with lesser degree of autonomy then that enjoyed by part A states. 2.2 DELHI AS A STATE After India achieved Independence, while the other States of the country got their Legislative Assemblies, various systems of running the administration of Delhi were tried from time to time. Delhi, like the other Chief Commissioners Provinces was included among Part C States under the Constitution. There was no division of authority as in the case of Part A and B States. The administration of Part C States was vested in the Union Government and the authority of Parliament was wholly uncircumscribed. The Parliament was however free to provide these states free with a democratic set-up or make such other arrangements as it thought fit. Under the Government of Part C States Act passed on 6 th September 1951, Delhi State Assembly was constituted. This was done on the basis of the recommendation of the Pattabhi Sitaramayya Committee. Delhi State was provided with a Legislature and a popular ministry but in view of Delhi being capital of India, the powers delegated had to be circumscribed. What it got was a form of dyarchical government seeking to reconcile Central Control over the federal capital with autonomy at state level G.C. Malhotra, Cabinet Responsibility to Legislature: Motions of Confidence and No-Confidence in Lok Sabha and State Legislature. p

4 Delhi was granted a Legislative assembly with 42 seats of which 6 were reserved for Scheduled Castes, on 17 th March, 1952 and was administered by a regularly constituted ministry responsible to the local legislature. Its life was five years, unless dissolved earlier. In the matter of franchise, qualifications of voters and members, legislative privileges etc. the rules were similar to those in respect of the Legislatures of Part A States. For the purposes of elections, the State was divided into 36 single member constituencies and 6 double member constituencies with reservation in each of them for member of the Scheduled Castes. 36 single member constituencies were (Kotla Feroze Shah, Parliament Street, Safdar Jang, Lodhi Road, Purana Qilla Viney Nagar, Delhi Cantt, Chittar Gupta, Mantola, Ram Nagar, Kashmere Gate, Chandni Chowk, Phatak Habash Khan, Maliwara, Ballimaran, Chawari Bazar, Ajmeri Gate, Darya Ganj, Chandrawal, Roshnara, Arya Pura, Tokriwalan, Kishan Ganj Anand Parbat, Civil Lines, Wazirabad, Shahdara, Nangloi, Khanjhawla, Isa Pur and Najaf Garh). The six double member constituencies were, (Reading Road, Sita Ram Bazar Turkman Gate, Pahari Dhiraj Basti Jullahan, Ragarpura Dev Nagar, Narela and Mehrauli). Voting was distributive, the voters having as many votes as there were candidates to be elected. 3 Ch. Braham Prakash was first Chief Minister of the state. 4 Under the Act of 1951, the Legislature of Part C States were empowered to enact laws in respect of any matter enumerated in the State list or the Concurrent list of the Constitution, just as in Part A and B States. The sources of revenue, enumerated in the lists, were same for both. The administration of these States was, however vested by the Constitution in the Parliament. Its authority was preserved by providing that in case of repugnancy the law made by the Parliament should prevail over that of the State Legislature. The restriction was not, however, expected to curtail unduly the power of these States, because it did not apply to Act of Parliament passed before 1 st April, 1952 and to law of the other States of India extended to Delhi under the Delhi Law Act of 1912 or the Part C States (Laws) Act, Further having delegated power to the State Legislature, Parliament was not expected to interfere in purely 3 4 Opcit. p. 554 M.S. Rana, India Votes: Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha Elections

5 local matters normally. The position allotted to Delhi was the same as that of the other Part C States, expect that, in view of its being the capital of India, the following subjects and connected matters were excluded from the preview of its Legislative Assembly: (1) Public Order. (2) Police including railway police. (3) The constitution and powers of municipal corporation and other local authorities, of improvement trusts and of water supply, drainage, electricity, transport and other public utility authorities in Delhi or New Delhi. (4) Land and buildings vested in or in the possession of the Union which were situated in Delhi and New Delhi. 5 Expenditure incurred on these subjects formed part of the central budget and were voted by the Union Parliament. Further, while in Part A States, the Governors could assent to Bills, all Bills of the Delhi Legislative Assembly had to be referred to the President for his assent. The power to promulgate ordinances was vested only in the President. While these limitations were important, it should be noted that the authority of the Legislative Assembly of Delhi extended over all other matters in the state list and the Concurrent list of the administration of justice, prisons, public health, agriculture, industries, etc. While a Legislature and a Council of Ministers were established and the State was self governing, the Government of India exercised control over many vital matters. All contracts were expressed to be made by the President and executed on his behalf. This attempt for a popular set-up for Delhi, however was short lived. The system of dual control or diarchy seemed to satisfy none. There was general feeling that development in the State had been slow and administrative standard had gone down since the reform. Some laid the blame on the inadequacy of the powers vested in State 5 Delhi Gazetteer, p

6 Ministers and the excessive control exercised by the government of India. When the States Reorganization committee came to review the position in 1955, it was of definitive opinion that the existing system was quite unworkable. The recommendation of the Commission was accepted. Under the State Reorganization Act, 1956, and the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act 1956, Delhi ceased to have a local legislature or a popular government and was constituted as a Union Territory. 6 The legislative assembly was abolished on November 1, 1956 and its administration became a direct responsibility of the President acting through an administrator. Later, the Muncipal Corporation of Delhi was set up on 7 th April 1958 under the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, It covered the entire Union Territory of Delhi, inclusive of the rural areas, but excluding New Delhi and the Cantonment area. Simultaneously two non-official Committees, namely, the Public Relation Committee and the Industrial Advisory Board, were set up under the Chairmanship of Shri Gopi Nath Aman and Dr. Yudhvir Singh, respectively, in order to associate the people of Delhi with the Delhi Administration. 7 But despite the fact that these Committees endeavored to address the problems of the people of Delhi, these could not become any substitute for an Assembly. Under the new system of government, the Union Territory of Delhi became a Central Charge, both in law and in fact. 2.3 METROPOLITAN COUNCIL FOR DELHI The categorical stand taken by the State Reorganization Commission on the issue of democratic government for Delhi and establishment of Delhi Corporation with widest measures of the civic autonomy did not succeed in stifling democratic aspiration of the citizens of Delhi. There was mounting pressure to get the issue reopened. On 3 rd September 1962, the Delhi Municipal Corporation passed a resolution protesting vigorously that there was no justification whatsoever for discrimination against the Union Territory of Delhi in regard to establishing popular responsible government. 6 7 Ibid. p G.C. Malhotra, Opcit. p

7 Delhi, continued to be governed by a Chief Commissioner till a new administrative set up for the Union Territory was contemplated in 1966, as a result of the recommendation of the Administrative Reform Commission. The Delhi Administration Act 1966, was passed and was assented to by the President of India on 2 June The Act provided for a Lt. Governor, a 7 Metropolitan Council for the entire territory of Delhi and an Executive Council to assist and advise the Administrators of the territory. The interim Metropolitan Council constituted under Section 32 of the Delhi Administration Act, 1966, had forty seven members (42 elected and 5 nominated). The Interim Council had short spell, functioning from September 1966 to February The metropolitan Council set up under the aforesaid Act consisted of 56 elected members and 5 members nominated by the Central Government. 8 In the first elections to the Executive Council held in February1967, the Jan Sangh was voted to power, it secured absolute majority by winning 33 seats. Prof. Vijai Kumar was elected as the Chief Executive Counselors19 seats and the Republican Party of India 2, and Independents and others 2 seats. On 28 March, 1967, Shri V. K. Malhotra, the Chief Executive Councilor, was administered the oath of office by the Lt. Governor Shri A. N. Jha. The in the next election held in1972 the congress came to power and in 1977 elections the Jana Sangh emerged victorious. 9 The Metropolitan Council was dissolved in 1980; it was revived after a gap of three years in Elections were held on 5 th February The congress got the absolute majority by winning 34 seats as against 19 by BJP. The Lok Dal (C) won 2 seats Janta Party 1. Shri Jag Parvesh Chandra was sworn in as Chief Executive Councilor on 8 th February 1983 by Lt. Governor Shri Jagmohan. The term of the Fourth Metropolitan Council was to end on 16 th March, 1988, but as per Section 10 or the Delhi Administration (Amendment) Act, 1988, the President, by separate orders, extended twice the term of the Council by one year each, first up to 16 th March Ibid, p Ibid, p

8 and again by one year up to 16 th March 1990 on the grounds that the questions of reorganizing the administrative setup of the Union Territory of Delhi was under consideration. Eventually the Council was dissolved by an order of the President on 12 th January DELHI STATE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY The Sarkaria Committee (later on called the Balakrishnan Committee), appointed by the Government of India on 24 th December 1987 to consider various aspects connected with the administration of Delhi, submitted its report in December The recommendations of the committee took shape in the form of the Constitution (Sixty-ninth) Amendment Act, 1991, a milestone in the history of Delhi. The enactment of the National Territory Act 1991, gave way to the Constitution Amendment, and Delhi was provided with a Legislative assembly comprising 70 seats along with a seven member Council of Ministers headed by a Chief Minister and Delhi became twenty-sixth State. The first part of the Legislative Elections to be held was delimitation of constituencies. This exercise was undertaken with the 1991 census figures in mind. Constituencies reserved for the SCs and STs had to be identified since the Act setting up the Assembly for Delhi contained such provisions. 10 For the purpose of making Assembly Constituencies for Delhi the seven Parliamentary Constituencies of Delhi were divided. New Delhi Parliamentary Constituency was divided into five Assembly Constituencies, South Delhi had ten and Outer Delhi had twenty one constituencies. East Delhi Parliamentary Constituency comprised twenty Assembly Constituencies. Seats in the Chandni Chowk Parliamentary Constituency were just four. Delhi Sadar and Karol Bagh Parliamentary Constituencies had five Assembly Constituencies each. There were thirteen Assembly Constituencies reserved for SC candidates. These were Madipur, Bawana, Sultanpur Majara, Mangolpuri, Dr. Ambedkar Nagar, Trilokpuri, Patpargunj, Seemapuri, Nandnagri, Narela, Ram Nagar, Baljitnagar and Karol Bagh Ibid, p.943. N.K. Chowdhary, Assembly Election 1993, p

9 In the elections to the Legislative Assembly held on 6 November 1993, the BJP secured an absolute majority winning 49 seats. Congress (I) got 14 seats, Janta Dal 4 and Independent 3 seats. On 2 nd December 1993, Shri Madan Lal Khurana was sworn in as the Chief Minister by the Lieutenant Governor, Shri P. K. Dave. 12 Elections to the Second Legislative Assembly were held on 25 th November The Congress (I) secured 53 seats, BJP 14, Janta Dal 1, and Independent 2 seats. Smt. Sheila Dikshit, who was earlier unanimously elected Leader of the Congress Legislature Party, was sworn in as the Chief Minister on 3 rd December In the Legislative Election held on 1 st December, 2003, INC secured 46 seats, BJP secured 20, JD (S)-1 seat, NCP-1 seat and IND-1 seat. Smt Shiela Dikshit was for the second time sworn in as the Chief Minister. Before 2008 elections Delimitation Commission for the capital made some changes in the profile of all seven Lok Sabha constituencies and the seventy Delhi Assembly Constituencies. As a result the names of some of the parliamentary and assembly seats were changed. Delhi under the new delimitation regime would continue to have seven Lok Sabha seats. But, unlike in the past, each of them would comprise 10 assembly seats now. The names of the new Lok Sabha seats are Chandni Chowk, North-East Delhi, East Delhi, New Delhi, North-West Delhi, West Delhi and South Delhi. In 2008 Assembly Elections Congress had a hat trick. Fighting the anti-incumbency Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit steered the party to a record hat-trick as the ruling Congress bagged 42 seats. BJP on the other hand secured 23 seats and others got 4 seats. Delhi s new cabinet was sworn in by Lt. Governor Tejinder Khanna with Shiela Diksit became the Chief Minister for the third time. Delhi with all its Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies can be seen in Map (2.1) G.C. Malhotra, p. 958 Ibid, p

10 Chapter 2: DELHI Source: Election Commission of India Map 2.1: Delhi State 39