Special assembly session on full statehood from June 6

THE ANNOUNCEMENT COMES AT A TIME WHEN THE LG AND THE AAP GOVERNMENT ARE LOCKED IN A SERIES OF CONTROVERSIES

NEWDELHI: Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday announced that a special threeday session of the Delhi Assembly will be held from June 6 to demand full statehood for the national Capital.

The announcement comes at a time when the L-G and the AAP government are locked in a series of controversies with the latest being the government’s flagship project of installing CCTV cameras in the city.

Granting full statehood for Delhi was a key poll promise of the AAP during the 2015 assembly elections.

After coming to power, the Arvind Kejriwal government drafted the ‘State of Delhi Bill, 2016’ for granting the Capital autonomy as enjoyed by other states, barring union territories.

The draft Bill, unveiled in May 2016, envisaged complete administrative power, including police, law and order and land to the Delhi government, while leaving governance of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) area with the Union government.

But neither the Bill nor the issue was taken up again by the government. “Nothing hap- pened after the draft Bill because the Centre raised a number of queries, which kept going back and forth between the Delhi and the central governments,” said an official privy to the issue.

While announcing the dates for the session, Sisodia said, “People of Delhi cannot be denied their rights. Looking forward to meaningful debates.”

The political executive of the Delhi government has, for long, been demanding full statehood for the city in the absence of which, it claimed, frequent clashes are imminent.

The ruling AAP has been at loggerheads with L-G Anil Baijal, accusing him of working as a stumbling block in its initiatives such as the CCTV camera project and doorstep ration delivery scheme.