New Delhi: Addressing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as his "elder brother" Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday assured his support to the Centre and said his government was ready to work together. He said Delhi would have witnessed 10 times more development had there been no Centre-state tussle. Kejriwal said the Delhi government was against fighting and was ready to work together with the PM.
Addressing the budget session, Kejriwal said Modi was his elder brother and he was ready to cooperate as a younger brother. He assured to reciprocate if Modi supported him. "If the elder brother comes and scolds the younger brother every day then how long can it be tolerated? If you want to win the younger brother's heart then love him," he said. The mantra for winning Delhi was winning the hearts of the people, he added.
He said that the practice of sending the Delhi government's budget to the Centre for approval was against the basic structure of the Constitution and democracy. He said it was for the first time that the Centre had raised objections to the budget, which was scheduled to be presented today. On March 10, the Delhi government sent the budget for approval to the Centre, which returned it on March 17 with some queries. The Delhi government replied to MHA's query without making any changes to the budget and it was approved, he said adding that the intention behind this was to make him bow down.
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Meanwhile, sources in the LG office alleged that Kejriwal and others ministers were lying about the Centre blocking the state budget. The budget was not blocked, said a source alleging that the Aam Aadmi Party leaders were trying to distract people's attention from the failures of their governance. "For the last 28 years, it has been a practice to get the President's approval before laying the budget. It is wrong to announce the date for presenting the budget before getting the requisite approval," he added.
