Draft Bill on Delhi statehood released

Sink differences, Kejriwal tells opponents; unacceptable, says BJP.

Arvind Kejriwal displays a copy of the draft bill on Wednesday. —PHOTO: SHANKER CHAKRAVARTY

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government released a draft bill seeking full statehood for the Capital here on Wednesday.

Available on the Delhi government website, citizens can review and suggest amendments to the said draft bill till the end of June through emails to “fullstatehood.delhi@gov.in” and “fullstatehood.delhi@gmail.com” following which it will be sent to the Centre for its nod, Chief Minster Arvind Kejriwal said.

Extension of jurisdiction

Released by Mr. Kejriwal with Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia by his side at the Delhi Secretariat, the State of Delhi Bill, 2016, motions for the extension of jurisdiction of the elected government of the Capital over police, land, municipal corporations and bureaucracy.

Areas demarcated under the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and the Delhi Cantonment Board would, however, remain beyond the legislative and administrative control of the proposed Delhi State.

The draft bill seeks the replacement of the term ‘Lieutenant Governor’ with ‘Governor’ in a significant shift in terms of administrative nomenclature. The Governor of State of Delhi would act “on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers as provided in Article 163 of the Constitution”, as per the draft.

Mr. Kejriwal, who termed the Bill a culmination of the aspirations of multiple governments which had both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress at their helm in the past, urged his political opponents to “rise above differences” and participate in an all-party meet on the issue. The BJP-led Centre termed the document “unconstitutional” while the Congress said the Chief Minister was raking up the issue to “divert the attention of the people from his failures.”

‘Rise above differences’

“The draft has been put on the Delhi government’s website. Through its passage, we seek to fulfil the dreams of the Congress and the BJP. We should rise above party lines. A special session of the Assembly may also be called for passing the resolution,” Mr. Kejriwal said.

The Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Legislative Assembly and BJP legislator, Vijendra Gupta, termed the bill “mischievous and unacceptable”.

“Only Parliament is empowered to prepare, adopt and pass the Delhi Statehood Bill as enshrined in the Constitution of India. The Delhi Legislative Assembly is not empowered to prepare and adopt the Bill as it is a constitutional one,” he said.