NEW DELHI: The Congress manifesto released on Tuesday promised to bring clarity about the power and role of the Lieutenant Governor and the chief minister in the national capital by amending the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act.
"Congress promises to amend the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991 to make it clear that the L-G shall act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers except in matters concerning the three reserved subjects," the Congress manifesto said under the 'Federalism and Centre-State relations' section.
The 'reserved subjects' are land, police and public order. Though Delhi has its Legislative Assembly, it does not enjoy the power of a full state and the L-G plays a critical role in administering the city. Incidentally, the Aam Aadmi Party government has been at loggerheads with the office of the L-G, accusing him of not allowing the elected chief minister to function.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Cabinet colleagues have been saying for long that as the government does not have full autonomy, it faces a lot of difficulties and resistance from the L-G to implement various projects and schemes for public welfare.
As the Congress skirted the issue of full statehood for Delhi in its manifesto, it drew a sharp reaction from the AAP, which has made the issue of complete autonomy its main poll plank in the Lok Sabha election. Terming the development 'surprising' and 'shocking', Gopal Rai, in-charge of the party in Delhi, stated that it is a U-turn of the party from its previous stand of 2015 when it promised to grant the status of statehood to Delhi once it come to power.
"There will not be a compromise from our side on the agenda of statehood. Delhi Congress should answer as to why the issue has not been mentioned in the manifesto. The party should re-think this manifesto is a conspiracy against the people of Delhi, who desperately want to have the full powers of a state," said Rai.
Delhi Congress president Sheila Dikshit had already rejected the idea, saying that full statehood is not possible for Delhi. "We had tried this trice when we were in power in Delhi for 15 years, but could not manage full statehood tag for Delhi. To make Delhi a complete state, amendments are required in the constitution," the Congress leader had said.
Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari has also expressed his opposition to full statehood for Delhi.