The Hindu : Sheila's Statehood demand aimed at polls: BJP

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 29, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Sheila's Statehood demand aimed at polls: BJP

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, JAN. 28. Describing the Delhi Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit's demand for full Statehood on the eve of Parliament elections as "ridiculous and childish'', the Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party president, Harsh Vardhan, today said the cry was being raised now only to divert the attention of people of Delhi from other important issues of their concern.

Reacting to the demand, Dr Vardhan said though two months had passed since the formation of the new Congress-led Government in Delhi, during the period Ms Dikshit had remained completely silent on the issue and even when the Committee constituted under the Chairmanship of senior Congress leader, Pranab Mukherjee, itself delayed the submission of its report to Parliament on the issue the Chief Minister did not utter a word.

But now with the Lok Sabha elections just round the corner, he accused Ms Dikshit of raising the issue to divert the attention of the people from the burning problems of electricity, water supply, house tax, protection to industries, development of slums, rehabilitation of slum-dwellers, transport and corruption in Government departments.

The BJP president said during its five year rule the Congress Government has only passed a resolution to grant full Statehood to Delhi and has only paid lip-service to the cause by sending this proposal to the Central Government. On the other hand, he said, BJP has not only supported this proposal, it has also raised the demand of full Statehood for Delhi in Parliament on a regular basis.

Stating that it was due to pressure mounted by BJP that the Union Government had constituted a Parlimentary Committee under Mr Mukherjee to study the Delhi Government's proposal, Mr Vardhan said the report recently submitted by the panel to Parliament is "not only adequate but also against the interests of Delhi'' as the original proposal has been changed significantly. Of the view that another review is required, he said this will not be possible before the dissolution of the present Lok Sabha.

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