The Delhi services bill secured parliamentary approval on Monday after the Rajya Sabha passed the contentious measure that will give the Centre control over bureaucracy in the national capital, with the BJP-led NDA thwarting opposition challenge in the keenly-watched numbers game. The NDA won by 131 votes against 102.
The Congress tried hard for every vote but could not stop the bill's passage. In the meantime, despite poor health, the Congress also allowed former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to vote in the Rajya Sabha to prevent the passage of the bill. The former CM, who will turn 91 next month, attended Rajya Sabha in a wheelchair.
Taking a swipe at the Congress, the BJP tweeted, "The country will remember this craze of Congress! The Congress kept a former Prime Minister sitting on a wheel chair late night in the House even in such a state of health, and that too just to keep its dishonest alliance alive! Terribly embarrassing!"
During a six-hour emotionally charged debate in the House, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the urgency behind first bringing an ordinance and now the Bill was to stop Delhi's ruling AAP from transferring officials connected to the probe into the Rs 2,000-crore liquor "scam".
