Draft full statehood bill to be out next week

Delivering on its promise made in its election manifesto for the Assembly elections, the AAP government is soon likely to make public its draft bill on full statehood for Delhi, seeking their suggestions in this regard.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said that the AAP government will soon make public draft bill for Delhi’s full statehood, bringing the contentious issue to the fore and setting the stage for another showdown with the Centre. “Draft Bill for Statehood of Delhi ready. Will be soon placed in public domain for comments n suggestions from public,” Kejriwal tweeted.

Sources said, the NDMC area which houses the Rashtrapati Bhavan, residences of the vice-president, the Prime Minister, parliamentarians and foreign missions may remain untouched in the bill which may be passed in a special session of Delhi Assembly.

“The government will make public draft bill for statehood of Delhi next week and seek comments and suggestions from the masses. After receiving suggestions and comments from people, the draft bill will be tabled in Delhi Cabinet for its nod.

“Once the draft bill is passed by the Cabinet, it will then be tabled in Delhi Assembly. If the bill is passed there, the government will send it to the Centre for constitutional amendment,” a source said, adding that Parliament will take a final decision on the full statehood for Delhi.

Granting full statehood to the national capital is one of the major electoral promises of the AAP, in the absence of which it has frequently clashed with the BJP-led Centre over matters of jurisdiction since assuming office.

Last year, the AAP had planned to hold a referendum on the issue, which was later shelved after constitutional experts said anything of that sort would be “unconstitutional”.

The BJP has had an ambivalent stance on the issue although the Atal Behari Vajpayee government had introduced a bill in Parliament in 2003 to confer full statehood to Delhi, which was never passed.

In its manifesto, the AAP had declared that it will push for full statehood acting within the constitutional framework and using its moral and political authority.

“This will ensure that institutions such as DDA, MCD and Delhi police will be accountable to the elected government of Delhi. There will be greater synchronisation and shared purpose among civic services and the law and order machinery will be accountable to the citizens,” it had said.