Inter state meet: CM to take up full statehood, tussle with Centre

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is likely to utilise the opportunity of Inter  State Council meeting to highlight the interference of the Lieutenant Governor in the functioning of his government, along with full statehood besides reminding Prime Minister Narendra Modi of his promise of “cooperative federalism”. The meeting in which the Chief Ministers of all states are participating is scheduled on Saturday at Rashtrapati Bhawan. 

“In a recent judgment related to Arunachal Pradesh’s political crisis, the Supreme Court has cleared that Governors should refrain from political developments in the state but in Delhi LG Najeeb Jung’s case, he is running a parallel government. We will highlight the issue in the meeting which is the right forum for such issues,” said a senior officer of the Delhi government. The Chief Minister had also re-twitted the news with the comment “hope LG read this”. 

According to sources of the Delhi government, the issue of Union Home Ministry not giving accent to 14 Bills passed by Delhi Legislative Assembly would also be raised in the meeting. The Delhi government has a comprehensive list of issues with the Centre including full statehood, misuse of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Anti Corruption Branch (ACB) and constant interference in the functioning of the Delhi government. He might even raise transfers and postings that were a “conspiracy” by the Central government and was targeting only those officers who were doing good work in Delhi. Sources say PM Modi is keen to exhibit his commitment towards cooperative federalism he speaks of so often — empowering state governments. The Delhi government has a sour relation with the Centre since it came to power primarily due issues related to jurisdiction. There were several cases between both the governments pending in the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court as well. Besides, personal cases between AAP and BJP leaders are also pending in various courts. 

The meeting will be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and attended by 17 Union ministers. It will be held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan auditorium for the first time, official sources said. Issues that will figure in the conference include recommendations of the Punchhi Commission on Centre-state relations, use of Aadhaar as an identifier and use of 

Direct Benefit Transfer for providing subsidies, benefits and public services, improving quality of school education with focus on improving learning outcomes, better performance and internal security.