Statehood deliberately not in manifesto: Congress

NEW DELHI: Congress on Thursday said that the party

manifesto

was made after much deliberations and the issue of

full statehood

for Delhi had been deliberately kept out.


Giving justification for promising full statehood to Puducherry, a Union Territory that has a legislative assembly similar to the national capital, and making no mention of Delhi, Congress national president

Abhishek Manu Singhvi

said the two UTs cannot be compared.

“One size doesn’t fit all. The manifesto was drafted after a lot of deliberations and taking views of various stakeholders. A recent Supreme Court order on the issue was also taken into consideration,” said Singhvi, while addressing a press conference at the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee office on the salient features of the manifesto released by AICC president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday.

The AAP dispensation in Delhi and Congress government in Puducherry have been involved in a tussle with the lieutenant governors of their states alleging that the Centre’s representative was not allowing the elected governments to function.

Delhi government has often expressed frustration at its proposals and schemes being vetoed by the Centre or put on the back burner as the capital lacks the status of a full-fledged state. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had earlier alleged that the elected government doesn’t even have the power to hire a peon. AAP has made full statehood to Delhi a poll plank in the general election.

Talking to TOI, Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit said that Delhi and Puducherry cannot be compared as they are completely different. “We (Delhi) are the capital of the country. The government of India sits here. He President lives here. Delhi has a different status and it belongs to everybody,” she added.

Asked why Congress made statehood a poll issue in previous elections, Dikshit said her government had tried to get Delhi the status of a full-fledged state, but didn’t succeed. “It requires a lot of constitutional amendments,” said the three-time chief minister.

Presenting the salient features of the Congress manifesto on agriculture, employment, health, minimum income and education, Singhvi attacked the Modi government for resorting to “jumlebazi” (rhetoric) on these issues for the past five years.