New Delhi: Ending a five-month suspense, the
Centre on Wednesday cleared the trifurcation of Municipal Corporation
of Delhi (MCD) which was vociferously pursued by Delhi Chief
Minister Sheila Dikshit.
"Home Minister P Chidambaram has signed the file giving
approval for trifurcation of MCD. We came here to thank him,"
Dikshit told reporters here after a meeting with Chidambaram.
She said Delhi Cabinet will meet tomorrow to decide when
to convene a session of the Delhi Assembly where a Bill for
trifurcating the MCD will be placed. All the ministers of
Delhi government were with Dikshit during the meeting.
The clearance of the proposal came amidst stiff
opposition from BJP which alleges the move will be against the
spirit of the Constitution and will cripple the functioning of
the civic body.
The Delhi government had sent the proposal to Home
Ministry in early June seeking the go-ahead for trifurcation
of the MCD ahead of municipal polls. The Home Ministry, after
giving the in-principle approval last week had sent the
proposal to the Law Ministry for vetting.
The Chief Minister, who has been a strong votary of
splitting the MCD, had met Chidambaram several times in the
last three months seeking early clearence to the proposal.
Dikshit had raised the issue with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi
in a meeting earlier this month.
Last month the Home Ministry wanted certain amendments in
the proposal, specifically on appointment of Commissioners for
the three proposed municipal councils so as to allow the
Centre to continue to have a say in the process.
PTI
