After Brexit, Delhi CM pushes for statehood

Hours after Britain voted to leave the European Union, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal called for a referendum on the granting of full statehood to the national capital.

Echoing a similar view, Delhi Dialogue Commis-sion vice-chairman Ashish Khetan said, “After UK’s referendum on the EU exit, it’s time to have a referendum on full statehood for Delhi.”

Minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju lashed out at Mr Kejriwal for again raking up the idea of a referendum on statehood for Delhi, saying, “Is Kejriwal intoxicated by the Brexit referendum In our country, everything works as per the Constitution. And there is no one who is above that.”

Earlier in the day, citing the “Brexit” referendum, Mr Kejriwal tweeted, “After UK referendum, Delhi will soon have a referendum on full statehood.”

Another tweet by Mr Khetan said, “After the UK referendum on EU exit, it’s time to have a referendum on full statehood of Delhi. In a democracy the will of the ppl (people) is supreme.”

If Delhi gets full statehood, the police, land and municipal corporations and bureaucracy will directly come under the state government.

Last month, the AAP government had released a draft bill on full statehood for Delhi and invited suggestions from the public till June 30.

The government had last year also prepared a “concept note” on the subject. The approach paper said that three months’ time were required to hold a referendum after the requisite approvals.

A highly-placed source said that the government intended to carry out the referendum through use of technology with the help of updated electoral rolls in the polling stations. The Delhi government’s revenue department is likely to anchor the referendum process under the overall guidance of the urban development (UD) department. Earlier, the UD principal secretary had even been entrusted with the overall job, from the concept note to the conclusion of the referendum.

While the AAP government has been demanding full control over the national capital, the Centre is reportedly reluctant to grant full statehood.