Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Delhi state convener Gopal Rai on Wednesday reached out to the Congress to support the demand of full Statehood for Delhi so that the people of the national Capital can lead their lives with dignity. In a letter to Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Rai said the grand old party should support the demand for full Statehood to Delhi instead of proposing to amend GNCTD Act 1991.
Rai said that Delhi saw its first Vidhan Sabha and directly elected government in the present form in 1993, one of the prominent faces of the struggle for statehood for Delhi was late Madan Lal Khurana ,who was elected the Chief Minister. Within days of becoming the Chief Minister, Khurana ji had stated he felt "helpless" being in a powerless assembly, he said.
He further said that after Khurana ji, his successor Sahib Singh Verma too expressed serious displeasure at the way Delhi government was denied its legitimate rights.
"A few years later, first and perhaps the only serious attempt to correct the historic fault was made in 2003 by none other than the two most experienced leaders LK Advani and Pranab Mukherjee. As Home Minister Advani introduced the statehood for Delhi Constitution Amendment Bill in August 2003, and as the then Chairperson of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs Pranab Mukhejree headed committee strongly recommended passage of the bill, which lapsed with the dissolution of the Lok Sabha and rest is history," he said.
Rai further said that this bill and the Standing Committee report had largely addressed all issues, including allowing the Central government to retain full control of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) area, which houses all important central government and diplomatic offices and residences.
"Unfortunately for the next 10 years from 2003 nothing happened and Delhi continued to suffer injustice. Since 2014 onwards when Modi government came to power, Delhi has witnessed its worst period with the trampling of democracy and murder of federalism," he said.
In its manifesto released Tuesday, the Congress said it "promises to amend the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) Act, 1991 to make it clear that the Lieutenant Governor shall act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers except in matters concerning the three reserved subjects." Rai said this was "extremely disappointing." "This is factually incorrect and these four lines do not convey anything. Firstly, aid and advice has nothing to do with the GNCTD Act, and it is extremely disappointing that after having promised statehood for Delhi for decades, your party has now gone back on its promise," he said in the letter.
He further said that it appears that this issue has been hurriedly incorporated in the Congress manifesto "without any homework or research". "For undoing the injustice to Delhi, it is time for a fresh constitutional amendment to provide it with full statehood.
"I request you to reconsider the stand taken by your party in the manifesto regarding Delhi and support the demand for full statehood, which will allow the people of Delhi to lead their lives with dignity," the letter said.
The letter also said that while the party was promising a NYAY scheme to ensure minimum income guarantee to the poor families, it needs to look at the "decades of injustice" on the people of Delhi.
"Can you imagine that in the current set-up, the elected Delhi government has no powers to even transfer a peon? From senior-most to contractual staff, not a single employee reports to the elected government," Rai said in the letter.
He said that currently, the Lieutenant Governor can veto any proposal of the elected government because of which Delhi government had no power. "Can this be allowed to continue? A politically appointed LG can stall any welfare scheme of the elected government which it wants to launch out of its own budget. Delhi does not virtually get any Central financial assistance and is on its own," he said. "I am confident that you will stand for justice with Delhi," he said in his letter to Gandhi.