BJP’s Delhi journey: From Metropolitan Council in ’60s to staying out of power for 27 yrs

After the tenure of the interim council from 1966 to 1967 under the chairmanship of Jag Parvesh Chandra, the first Metropolitan Council from 1967 to 1972 saw a majority government of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, led by chairman Lal Krishna Advani, who went on to become a top leader of the BJP and Deputy Prime Minister. This was followed by the Jana Sangh becoming a part of governments in several other Indian states.

“The Delhi Metropolitan Council, which gave the Jana Sangh the opportunity to form its first government with a poorn bahumat (full majority), was dissolved in the year 1990. The BJP gave the Delhi Legislative Assembly its first Chief Minister in Madan Lal Khurana in the year 1993, followed by Sahib Singh Verma and then its first woman CM, Sushma Swaraj,” said South Delhi BJP MP Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, who was part of the first Legislative Assembly.

After being hit by hawala allegations – over which Khurana tendered his resignation making way for Verma – but was later absolved, Swaraj would lead the party in the House before the BJP government was ousted over the issue of inflation in onion prices in the year 1998. The sons of both the former BJP CMs – Harish and Parvesh, who won from the Moti Nagar and New Delhi constituencies, respectively – will be among the 48 members of the incoming Assembly.

With the Congress’s Sheila Dikshit being sworn in as Chief Minister, the BJP would remain on the margins of Delhi’s governance for close to three decades. “This is the first time in almost 27 years that the party, again with a full majority of its own, will get the opportunity to serve the people of the Capital at the Assembly level,” Bidhuri, who served as Leader of Opposition in the House before being elected to the Lok Sabha last year, added.

S K Sharma, former secretary of the Lok Sabha and Delhi Assembly, recalled the setting up of the Delhi Assembly in 1993. “Politicians who used to get elected [in Council] wanted more power. They would say that people come to them with problems and that they didn’t have the power to do anything,” he said.

He said the first Assembly in 1993 functioned within the limits of Article 239AA. The Delhi Assembly could not legislate on matters of law and order, land, and police. Article 239AA of the Constitution of India, which came into effect on February 1, 1992, provided for a Legislative Assembly for the National Capital Territory of Delhi.

“It was very clear that this [Delhi Assembly] is not a legislature like others. It has limitations. It was not envisaged as a parallel institution. We had told them [Khurana government] that the power of this institution is limited and they used to understand that. Even Sheila ji used to understand that,” he said.

The Delhi State Legislative Assembly first came into being on March 7, 1952, under the Government of Part-C States Act, 1951. After recommendations of the State Reorganisation Commission in 1955, Delhi ceased to be a Part-C State from November 1, 1956, and the Legislative Assembly was abolished with Delhi becoming a Union Territory under the direct administration of the President.

In response to demands for a democratic setup and on the basis of the recommendations of the Administrative Reforms Commission, the Delhi Administration Act, of 1966 was enacted, providing for a unicameral deliberative body – the Metropolitan Council – with powers of recommendation when it came to matters of governance, and an Executive Council consisting of one Chief Executive Councilor, three Executive Councilors, 56 elected members and five other members nominated by the President.