New Delhi, July 30: A bill for granting full statehood to Delhi with Centre having certain special powers is likely to be introduced in the ongoing Parliament session following a series of recriminations between BJP and Congress over the issue in view of the upcoming assembly elections. The bill is proposed to be modelled on the Pondicherry system, with provision of the Governor and not chief minister having control over matters relating to security and civic administration of NDMC area which houses Rashtrapati Bhawan, Parliament complex, residence and office of the Prime Minister, the Diplomatic Enclave and other sensitive installations.
Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani has asked Law Minister Arun Jaitley to draft the bill by this weekend and the Union Cabinet is likely to take it up next week to pave the way for introduction in the current session, Delhi BJP chief Madan Lal Khurana told reporters. Giving details of the bill, he said while granting full statehood to Delhi, it envisages that the Centre would exercise some special rights under sub-sections of Article 371 of the Constitution.
He said in law and order matters, the chief minister would have control over police upto the level of Assistant Commissioner of Police while the ranks above would be under the Governor. Police budget would be the Centre's responsibility, he said.
"These requirements have been necessitated as Delhi is the capital of the country and enjoys a special position," he said terming as a "big success" the fact that "there will be no division of Delhi". Bureau Report