Statehood proposal in next Assembly session: Kejriwal

The Delhi government plans to bring a proposal on full statehood in the next session of Assembly, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced while constituting an eight-member entrepreneurship council for helping start-ups.

 Kejriwal also attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the alleged forgery of his BA and MA degrees and claimed the BJP was not arresting Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in the Agusta chopper kickback case and the Congress was returning the favour by not questioning Modi’s degrees.

Demanding control over the Anti-Corruption Branch, Kejriwal said let them give us  the control over the ACB and we shall show the world how Agusta deal can be probed.

“Modi ji is not only helping Sonia Gandhi but also Sheila Dikshit,-  against whom  the AAP government filed three corruption cases during its 49-day stint,” said Kejriwal.
After our government filed three cases against Dikshit and one case against Mukesh Ambani, the BJP government was there for one year and they locked up these cases’ files in cupboards.

On the controversy related to Modi’s academic record, Kejriwal said the most disturbing part is the forgery of documents. “Even if a PM is Class 12 pass, we respect him as he has got the public mandate. But here the issue is of a 420 case and forgery,” he said.

“We have checked all records and found just one Narendra Modi who took admission in the DU in 1975. He was traced in Rajasthan and has a date of birth of 1958 and not 1950 as is PM Modi’s,” said Kejriwal.

Kejriwal earlier said his government would bring a proposal in the Assembly on full statehood and send it to the central government for Constitution amendment.

In July last year, the AAP government came up with the idea of a referendum on the issue of statehood for Delhi. However, it did not materialise.

On that occasion, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal sent a note to various departments asking them to "draft a law and create machinery for" such a practice.

After discussions with his cabinet colleagues on referendum, Kejriwal issued a note "Do a referendum in Delhi. Draft a law and create machinery for referendum."

The entrepreneurship council, with Industry Minister Satyender Jain as its patron,  would give a report within three months on the need to modify policies and provide easy finance for start ups and shopkeepers.

“If someone becomes a job provider instead of job seeker, he is likely create more job opportunities,” said  Kejriwal.

 The Council consists of mainly the members from industries and businesses and it will work under the aegis of the Dialogue and Development Commission of Delhi.

 The mandate of the Entrepreneurship council will be to advise the Delhi government on how to create the best environment leading to job creation in all sectors.