According to'The State of Delhi Bill 2016' placed on government's website for public comments, New Delhi (NDMC) and Delhi Cantonment areas will be kept out of the juridication of the proposed Delhi state. The term Lt Governor will be replaced with 'Governor'.
In the Bill, the city governmnet has advocated creation of a seperate official cadre for the state. Besides, High Court for the existing National Capital Territory will be called the 'High Court of Delhi, it states.
"The BJP has struggled the most on the issue. They have consistently raised it. We are merely taking their resolve forward by inviting public opinion on this draft," Kejriwal told a press conference here, when asked about the AAP's action plan if the draft is rejected by the Centre.
Kejriwal said that he will write letters and 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 NDMC area, out of its jurisdiction.
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Kejriwal said after June 30, the final version of the draft would be prepared and a resolution would be passed by the Delhi Assembly to this effect. "We will forward the resolution to the Centre which in turn will have to bring Constitutional Amendment," he said.
Embassy areas and central government are in the NDMC zone of the city and in view of this, NDMC area may have separate police, he said.
To buttress his point, Kejriwal quoted from BJP manifestos from 1993 till 2014 and statements made by its leaders including Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju.
"Kiren Rijiju spoke in favour of statehood in 2006. VK Malhotra raised the issue in 2011. In its 2013 national executive meeting, BJP reiterated its resolve in this regard. On May 25, 2014 Harsh Vardhan had said that the first issue he would raise with the new Prime Minister would be statehood," Kejriwal said.
"The draft primarily says that NDMC area will be with the Centre and the rest should come under the elected government in Delhi. It has been prepared after taking into consideration the older ones," he said.
The Governor of state of Delhi will act on the aid and advise of the Council of Ministers as provided in Article 163 of the Constitution, Bill also said.
Granting full statehood to the national capital is one of the major electoral promises of AAP, in the absence of which it has frequently clashed with the BJP-led Centre over matters of jurisdiction since assuming office.
Last year, AAP had planned to hold a referendum on the issue, which was later shelved after experts said anything of that sort would be "unconstitutional".