Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju on Friday lashed out at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for once again raking up the idea of a referendum on complete statehood for Delhi after getting inspired by the historic mandate in the United Kingdom (UK) with regard to opting out of the European Union (EU), saying that latter has been ‘intoxicated by the Brexit referendum.’
“Is Kejriwal intoxicated by the Brexit referendum? In our country, everything works as per Constitution. And there is no one who is above that,” Rijiju reporters here.
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“We all are working as per the Constitution. We must not forget that New Delhi is the capital of India. So, everyone should work in his limits and jurisdictions. If he goes beyond the jurisdictions, actions will be taken as per the Constitution,” he added.
Hours after the European Union referendum results were declared on Friday afternoon, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo said a similar referendum will be conducted in the Delhi to assess the people’s mood for granting complete statehood for Delhi.
“After UK referendum, delhi will soon have a referendum on full statehood,” he tweeted.
Last month, Kejriwal made public a draft bill on Delhi’s statehood which did not include certain areas, forcing the BJP to state that only Parliament was empowered to prepare and pass the law in the matter as per the Constitution.
The AAP-led Delhi Government has been demanding full statehood status for the national capital since long and it has locked horns with the NDA-led BJP regime at the Centre and Lt Governor Najeeb Jung on the media.
While statehood for Delhi was part of the AAP’s manifesto, the BJP which had been raising the issue for years, kept mum on it ahead of the February 2015 state elections.
