File Photo: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
The Aam Aadmi Party government is planning to push for full statehood for Delhi - a key move in its turf war with the Lieutenant Governor and against what the party calls "bulldozing" by the BJP-led Central government -- sources told NDTV.
The announcement is expected to be made at the party's Jan Sabha tomorrow, which has been called ahead of the two-day emergency assembly session that begins on May 26. At the meeting, the 100-day-old government is expected to announce a referendum on full statehood, party sources said.
AAP alleges that the BJP is trying to govern Delhi through the Lieutenant Governor -- who acts as the Centre's representative in the capital and is vested with significant powers as Delhi is a Union Territory and not a full state.
The move comes days after the Union home ministry issued a circular strongly endorsing the stand of Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, following his recent tussle with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over bureaucratic appointments.
The government's two-day emergency session is meant to discuss the notification, which demarcated the power of their offices.
Today, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the Centre was trying "bulldoze" the agenda of the AAP government. "The Centre wants to run Delhi. They want to bulldoze our agenda, we will not allow this," Mr Sisodia told NDTV. "The Centre is Allergic to Kejriwal," he added. Mr Kejriwal has already written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the issue.
The working relationship between Mr Kejriwal and the Lieutenant Governor had never been smooth but it dropped several notches in the latest battle over the appointment of an IAS officer as the topmost bureaucrat in Delhi.
The Chief Minister had described the officer - who was appointed as the chief secretary by Mr Jung -- as a "lobbyist for power companies".
Both sides traded charges in a series of letters, following which Mr Kejriwal retaliated by filling key posts with his preferred candidates. Mr Jung, who has since been declared the final authority on bureaucratic appointments by the home ministry circular -- had declared all the appointments void.