New Delhi, Aug 11: With assembly elections not far away, the Union Cabinet today cleared a bill to confer statehood on Delhi which will be introduced during the current session of Parliament. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told reporters after the meeting chaired by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee that under the proposed Delhi Statehood Bill, 2003, the entire national capital territory would be granted full statehood with police and public order remaining under the Centre`s purview.
Articles 239-A (A) and 239-A (B) of the Constitution say that Delhi`s union territory status, would be done away with, she said.
The Centre, under the provisions of the proposed bill, would have the powers to give directions to the state government on issues on which differences may crop up and the state government would have to abide by these directives, Swaraj said.
She refused to elaborate further on the bill on the plea that Parliament was in session.
Swaraj said Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, who had promised statehood to Delhi at a BJP meeting yesterday, wanted the bill to be taken up and adopted in the current session of Parliament itself.
Earlier, Union Labour Minister and former Delhi chief minister had said "it is a great day for Delhi". He added that bodies like DDA, which at present come under the purview of the Centre, would fall under the jurisdiction of the Delhi government once this bill is passed. Bureau Report