Citing the 'Brexit' referendum, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said the national capital will soon have a referendum on full statehood issue. Last month, the Aam Aadmi Party government released a draft bill on full statehood for Delhi and invited suggestions from the public till June 30.
"After UK referendum, Delhi will soon have a referendum on full statehood," the Delhi Chief Minister tweeted. If Delhi gets full statehood, police, land and municipal corporations and bureaucracy will come under the state government.
Senior AAP leader Ashish Khetan said the will of the people is supreme in democracy and it's time to have a referendum on full statehood for the national capital. "After the UK referendum on EU exit, it's time to have a referendum on full statehood of Delhi. In a democracy the will of the ppl is supreme," he tweeted.
The UK has voted to quit the European Union in a referendum which is being termed as 'Brexit'.
In July last year, the Kejriwal government had asked its various departments to prepare a "draft law and create machinery for" holding referendum on the issue of statehood for Delhi.
The CM had asked the Urban Development Department to come with a feasibility report and specify a timeline. The department was asked to give various options available to the government for conducting such a referendum.
While releasing the draft bill on the statehood for Delhi, Kejriwal, last month, had asked the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress to "rise above differences".
Kejriwal had said the he would also meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh , BJP President Amit Shah and Congress president Sonia Gandhi to garner support for the draft bill, which keeps the high-profile New Delhi Municipal Council area, out of its jurisdiction.
Meanwhile, BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya on Friday lashed out at Kejriwal for mooting the idea of a referendum and said the chief minister is known to rake-up new issues to hide the failures of his government.
"A referendum should conducted to decided whether he (Kejriwal) fulfilled the promises made to people before polls. He had said that the AAP would provided free Wi-fi across Delhi, has he fulfilled the promise? First he should fulfill promises. Just to hide the failure of his government, he keeps raking up new issues," Vijayvargiya said
