#AAP GOVERNMENT’S MOVE TO CALL FOR REFERENDUM ON FULL STATEHOOD FOR DELHI UNCONSTITUTIONAL: DPCC

On Jul 8, 2015

NEW DELHI, July 8—The Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee has flayed the Aam Aadmi Party Government’s move to call for a referendum on full statehood for Delhi as it said it was unconstitutional and yet another diversionary tactic by the AAP Government to divert the attention of the people and the media from the many scandals and controversies that have been dogging it ever since it came to power in Delhi five months ago.

DPCC chief spokesperson Smt. Sharmistha Mukherjee said the AAP Government has been mired in controversies such as corruption, mis-governance, cases against 6 MLAs for having fake degrees, the appointment of 21 Parliamentary secretaries in an unconstitutional manner, and the demand by the AAP MLAs to seek a hike in their salaries, and the latest move by the AAP Government to rake up the referendum issue was only to divert the attention of the people and the media from these issues. She said the AAP’s move to call for a referendum was unconstitutional and it should not be done at the cost of tax payer’s money. She said calling for a referendum on Delhi statehood was a very sensitive issue, and unconstitutional , as it was another attempt by the AAP Government to open up a confrontational front against the BJP-led Central Government, so that it could blame the Centre for its own follies and failures in future. She said the AAP had made such lofty promises in its election manifesto that the AAP Government finds it difficult to fulfil those promises, and was now looking for a scapegoat to wriggle out of its own trap.

Smt. Sharmistha Mukherjee said the referendum move by the AAP Government only shows its inexperience, irresponsibility and true character as the AAP Government does not seem to look beyond its own short-term interest, as referendum on statehood would only strengthen the hands of the divisive forces in the country, and may lead to anarchy. She said the AAP was making a wrong interpretation of the 44th amendment in the Constitution to call for a referendum on statehood for Delhi.

Smt. Sharmistha Mukherjee said the Congress Party was not against full Statehood for Delhi, but before the AAP Government raises the issue, it should have detailed discussions with various stake holders, to understand the constitutional implications, as Delhi is not yet another state of the country, but is the National Capital, where people from different parts of the country and the world live. Giving an example, Smt. Mukherjee said the Central Government spends over Rs 5000 crore on the Delhi Police, and also incurs heavy expenses on Central Universities like the Delhi University, other universities and hospitals in the Capital. She wondered where would the AAP Government, already facing fund crunch, find money to run these institutions. She said the Delhi Metro was the only metro rail service where the Centre contributes 75 per cent of the expenses as against 25 per cent by the Delhi Government, while in other States, the metro expenses were in the reverse order, and the AAP has not thought of these issues.

Smt. Sharmistha Mukherjee said according to a circular issued by the Delhi Speaker, the Government will bear the expenses of fully setting up the offices of the MLAs with staff and all in their respective constituencies, but despite that the AAP MLAs, already receiving a monthly remuneration of Rs 85,000, were seeking a hike in their salaries, claiming that they were incurring heavy expenditure for maintaining their constituency offices.

Shadow department members Aman Pawar and Chetanya Singh said according to AAP MLA Somnath Bharti, the demand for referendum was right in view of the 44th Constitution amendment, but in actual fact, it was unconstitutional as the 44th amendment being harped upon by the AAP allows only the people of India to amend the basic structure of the constitution. They said the Indian constitution does not allow any such un-constitutional move, which affects the basic character of the Indian constitution. They said the framers of the Constitution were not in favour of referendum, and Dr B.R.Ambedkar, one of the architects of the Indian constitution, said “the draft Constitution has eliminated the elaborate and difficult procedure such as a decision by a convention or a referendum. The powers of amendment are with the Legislature, Central and State”.