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Congress mum on statehood for Delhi

The Congress manifesto for Delhi, released Thursday, was silent on the question of full statehood for the capital.

Replying to questions, senior leader Jag Pravesh Chandra said the party would not favour the bifurcation of police forces. If the bill brought forward by the BJP for full statehood provided for dividing the city into a Union territory of New Delhi, and a state, Delhi, it would mean having two separate police forces.

''Would you like two sets of police force in Delhi? How can you bifurcate the police?'' he asked.

The 17-page Congress manifesto lashed out at the BJP for its ''continuous misrule and mismanagement'' during the past five years in power, which had led to ''unparalleled deterioration in every sector of life in the capital.''

''Delhi is the nerve centre of India. The world judges India from the quality of life in Delhi. Today, it is more insecure, more polluted, more disease-prone and more chaotic than ever before,'' the manifesto said.

Prices of essential commodities are touching the sky, power failure and load shedding is continuous, water scarcity is prevalent all over, unsanitary conditions have made it a city of epidemics, and the law and order situation is dreadful, it said.

Urging the people to vote the BJP government out, the Congress said the situation must change and Delhi must regain its status as a model of efficient and democratic governance.

UNI

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