Holding incumbent Arvind Kejriwal responsible for the ongoing stand-off between the government and Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal, former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit advised Mr. Kejriwal to approach Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his demand for granting full statehood to the Capital.
President’s Rule
The Congress also ruled out an alliance with the AAP for the 2019 elections but maintained that “an elected government cannot be removed by the President’s Rule”. “Delhi is a Union Territory. If Mr. Kejriwal thinks it has the same jurisdiction as Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, then he is mistaken….If they want to change the Constitution, the L-G cannot do it. Parliament alone can do it. If Mr. Kejriwal wants to make a demand for full statehood, he should approach Parliament and the Prime Minister,” said the three-time former Delhi Chief Minister at a press conference.
State Congress chief Ajay Maken was also present.
Ms. Dikshit said her party had also demanded full statehood. Accusing the Delhi government of adopting a confrontational attitude, she said, “Even we worked under the BJP government in our first term but there was never such a condition. We have done so much work, like converting public transport to CNG, privatising power and bringing water reforms in the city.”
‘Dharna politics’
Accusing both the BJP at the Centre and the AAP in Delhi of resorting to dharna politics, Mr. Maken said the Kejriwal government had underperformed in areas that are directly handled by the city government.
“This is a well-thought-out strategy that started with the assault of the Delhi Chief Secretary in February. We are seeing the final act now so that they can divert people’s attention from their failures,” he said.
On whether the Congress agreed with the view expressed by many in the Delhi BJP that President’s rule should be imposed, Mr. Maken said, “The Congress does not support the dismissal of any elected government.”
However, he added, “I have already said before that there is no question of an alliance. They were the ones who used to earlier target [former PM] Manmohan Singh and a host of Congress leaders. Just because they are giving an apology and the people are accepting, does not mean we can forget the role of the AAP and Mr. Kejriwal and the Anna movement in bringing Mr. Modi to the centre stage.”