Refuting the BJP’s allegation that a file related to Jan Lokpal Bill has been stuck with the AAP government for the past nine months, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Friday that it was the Central Government which sat on the Bill for around 21 months.
Three BJP MLAs walked out of the Delhi Assembly on Friday in protest after their request for a reply on the Jan Lokpal Bill, which they claimed was stuck with the AAP government, was turned down.
The MLAs then sat on a dharna outside Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s office in the Assembly, seeking an apology from him on the issue.
A three day special Assembly session was called by the Delhi government from Wednesday to discuss the demand of full statehood for Delhi. Sisodia while dismissing the BJP’s allegation as baseless, said after Jan Lokpal Bill was passed by the Delhi Assembly on 4 December 2015, the Centre was in slumber for around 21 months and after that they raised the point whether the Delhi Assembly had the power to pass the Bill.
Sisodia said on 23 August 2017, the Centre said in a reply that its concerned department was looking into the Bill.
Sisodia went on to say: “However, the technical issue regarding the lack of competence of the Delhi Assembly needs to be further deliberated, according to the Central government’s response.”
Sisodia said the Bill would have come into effect in a month’s time if Delhi was a full state.