The BJP yesterday charged the Union government of discrimination against the Delhi government and demanded that the capital should be included in the Union governments megacity plan.
It is strange that Mumbai, Madras, Calcutta and Bangalore are included in this plan but Delhi is not, BJP vice-president KL Sharma said, asserting that Delhi would be the first city to have qualified for inclusion. This is the height of discrimination,.
Pointing out other instances of such discrimination, he said that the only solution to Delhis problems was full statehood. The state should have full control over the police and urban development, both of which are under the Union governments jurisdiction.
The recent instance of discrimination was the Centres delay in sanctioning Rs 600 crore due to Delhi as taxes, octroi and money related to the transfer of the Delhi Transport Corporation to state government.
The central ministers admit the genuineness of the Delhi governments demand, but they fail to rectify the problems, Sharma said. In his recent meeting with Delhi Chief Minister Saheb Singh Verma, although Union home minister Indrajit Gupta conceded that the Centre owed arrears to the Delhi government, no payment has been made, Sharma said.
Ever since Delhi was granted limited statehood and the BJP came to power, the state and the central governments have accused each other of not trying to solve the problems of Delhi. While the state government says the Centre has jurisdiction over most of the subjects, the latter has accused the state government of ignoring peoples basic problems.
The law and order issue has become particularly contentious as the Delhi police is under jurisdiction of the Union government whereas the people hold the state government accountable for the citys deteriorating law and order situation.
