This story is from August 15, 2016

Delhi angry over half-citizen status, says CM Kejriwal

Delhi angry over half-citizen status, says CM Kejriwal
NEW DELHI In an Independence Day speech that lasted for little less than 30 minutes, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal once again raised the issue of the Delhi government’s limited administrative powers, asking whether the people of Delhi pay less tax or are less patriotic for their vote to mean so little. Observing that Delhiites were angry at their status of “half citizens”, Kejriwal said if the power of a vote in other states was 100 points, the power of a vote in Delhi was less than 20 points.
The speech comes days after the Delhi high court ruled in favour of the lieutenant governor, spelling out his powers vis-a-vis those of the Delhi government.
Kejriwal, who was away for vipassna at that time, spoke on expected lines, attacking the Centre for trying to derail the state government.
In the first 10 odd minutes of the speech—in which he also praised the government’s initiatives in the education and health sectors -- the chief minister traced Delhi’s electoral history post-independence. He said that for some years after 1950, when the country adopted the Constitution framed by Baba Saheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar, Delhiites had the right to elect their government, but a few years later, the city was declared a “Centre-ruled state”.
“When this happened, people struggled to get back their democratic right to elect a government. Why should people of Delhi be deprived of their constitutional right? Finally, in 1992, the Centre agreed to Delhi’s demand. However, it said that while it will give Delhiites the right to elect their government, it will not give the government full right to address their problems. In the past 24 years, elected governments have had the power to address most issues. In the past one-and-a-half years, however, the elected government is being deprived of its constitutional rights one by one.”
Kejriwal compared the current situation to when the British passed the Government of India Act in 1935, giving Indians the power to elect their representatives but actually keeping all powers with themselves. “Today, the situation is such that the elected government has almost no rights. If today the government wants to take some decision for the people of Delhi, it cannot do so independently. The situation is reminiscent of the British rule in India. You have the power to elect your MLA, minister, CM etc but they do not have the power to run a government. With independence we established democracy in the country and ensured that only its people -- and not kings -- will be the true rulers,” he said.
“People in Delhi are asking why they are being deprived of their constitutional rights of electing a government and having the elected representatives take decisions on their behalf. However, despite all the hurdles and problems we have faced in the past year-and-a-half, I am proud to say that the elected government has done work that is being discussed across the world -- in US, UK, China etc,” said Kejriwal. “No country is developed by its government; it is developed by its people. And we have prepared the people of Delhi to develop this country by ensuring good education through improved government schools, more classrooms, PTMs and better health facilities through mohalla clinics and dispensaries.”
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