The demand for Delhi's statehood is emerging to be the future flash-point between Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) that stormed with a brute majority in Delhi and the BJP-led central government.
The demand for Delhi's statehood is emerging to be the future flash-point between Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) that stormed with a brute majority in Delhi and the BJP-led central government.
After being anointed as Delhi's chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday laid down in unequivocal terms the demand for full statehood for Delhi before the massive public gathering.
Putting the ball in PM's court, Kejriwal said, "When I met the Prime Minister, I told him that god cannot give a better chance than this. We have an absolute majority in Delhi and you have a full majority at the Centre. If we both decide that Delhi should get complete statehood, then it will definitely get it."
Kejriwal roped in the BJP also by saying that in all previous elections campaigns, the BJP talked of giving complete statehood to Delhi in their manifesto. For the last 15 years, including during the last Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party promised the people of Delhi that they will give them complete statehood.
BJP Delhi state president Satish Upadhayay sees the demand for full statehood for Delhi as a clever move by Kejriwal.
"By reiterating this again and again he is trying to put all the onus of everything, every problem on the statehood issue. I wish him all the success and would like to give him decent time frame to translate all the promises he has made but my fear is that if he fails he may try to put the blame on statehood issue. He should first deliver on his key promises of free water, free wi-fi, 500 schools, 30 colleges and 15,000 CCTV cameras etc." said Upadhayay.
Immediately after AAP's victory and before settling in as chief minister, Kejriwal had visited union home ministry Rajnath Singh, urban development minister Venkaiah Naidu and PM Modi raising the pitch of demand for Delhi's statehood.
AAP's long standing refrain has been that Delhi cannot settle security issues and prosper in real terms unless it gets the statehood along with control over Delhi Police and Delhi Development Authority (DDA), the custodian of capital's land.
Scoffing at Kejriwal's demand, a senior home ministry official said, "He should first understand the repercussions of it. Delhi is not like any other state, its dynamics and importance are totally different."
Upadhayay, like many observers, has a different perspective. "This is a long standing issue that is very tough to resolve as key institutions of national governance and international standing are located in Delhi such as Rashtrapati Bhawan, all central ministries, embassies of various nations, defence establishments, central ministries international airport etc. How can the jurisdiction over them can be given to the Delhi government. One has to find ways do this if at all this can be done."
"That is the reason we did not have statehood demand in our manifesto this time," said Upadhayay.
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