Careful what you ask for: Kejriwal's full statehood demand can badly backfire

[Guynextdoor2]

This demand is not unfair Delhi should be a full fledged state.........muffler i am with you on this.

Bad move, Bhakt will disown you now

 

[13 komaun]

Bad move, Bhakt will disown you now

I am not bakht

 

[Lord ZeN]

We get a LOT of extra benefits by being a quasi state - billions of dollars of investment by the Center regardless of which Government is in power.

Are you from Delhi ?

 

[isupportaap]

BJP and Congress promised full statehood earlier, Whats wrong if AAP is asking fair demand

 

[mehul sharma]

I don't know what the big deal is? The police, for instance, reporting to the centre is completely useless in such a populous city like delhi. Even in the US, the President's area is a 'district' of COlumbia, not the state of Columbia. If we need some proper administration in Delhi, we need more powers.

by we you means..who? I know that Delhi is small city and Columbia is a big state so I think Center should have some power in Capital city.Delhi is not that big to be a state.I don't even know why they hold elections here.It should go direct under central govt.

Kejriwal can always run a parallel government. He can boycott the Indian Government or simply declare independence from India.

Delhi can not survive without its neighbor states.It is completely dependent on other states for water,electricity,food nothing grows in New Delhi we just consume and show off and in reality most of delhi people are below average class

 

[Ind4Ever]

Be careful what you ask for, because you just might get it. Mohammed Ali Jinnah demanded a separate Pakistan for Muslims - and he got one, a "moth-eaten" one, to use his own evocative expression.

Arvind Kejriwal is perfectly within his rights to demand full statehood for Delhi. And there is no reason to deny it to him. Why should Delhi not get powers what other states automatically get? But Kejriwal should also know that, like Jinnah, he will get a "moth-eaten" Delhi. If he understands that, then Narendra Modi should give it to him.

Like Beelzebub's famous quote in Milton's Paradise Lost, Kejriwal may well reckon that it is "Better to reign in hell, than serve in heaven." Not that Delhi is any kind of heaven right now for anybody except the Lutyens elite, but it is less of a hell because it gets more taxpayer resources than any other city in India.

Here's why full statehood means a moth-eaten Delhi, and why Kejriwal's party may also be the wrong one to run it, unless he changes course:

Delhi is by and large a city-state. But it is also the capital of India. Since it is not possible for the central government to come under a state government's administrative jurisdiction, it automatically means that Delhi has to be bifurcated if one part of it is to receive full statehood. There is no way any central government will allow a state to control its offices, establishments, cantonments and services.

So the first implication of Kejriwal's demand for statehood is bifurcation. And by bifurcation we mean not just geographical bifurcation, but bifurcation of all the services provided to the citizens of united Delhi: the police, the land development authority, the water-works, everything.

So the Delhi police will have to be split between the new full state of Delhi and a central autonomous mini-state that will constitute the national capital (which will house all cantonments and central offices, including the country's president, the Prime Minister, the MPs, the ministers and the bureaucracy). It will also mean splitting the Delhi Development Authority, and a new water sharing agreement involving the two residual entities, among other things.

To be sure, some kind of bifurcation already exists - but it is horizontal in nature - with police and land being run by the centre, and municipal and other services by the state. What Kejriwal is demanding will merely make the bifurcation vertical - a separation of centre from state, geographically, resource-wise and emotionally. Kejriwal's full-state Delhi will not be today's Delhi.

But there are other implications of demanding full statehood that Kejriwal should be aware of before asking for the moon and sixpence.

First, as a full state of the Indian Union, Delhi will no longer be eligible to live off the central government's current subsidies. The rest of India can pay to run a central government, but not another state government, including its police. Delhi is India's richest state, and thus has to rely on its own resources for growth and to provide services to its citizens.

Second, apart from Delhi's value-added taxes, the primary revenue earners for a city-state are taxation of services, entry, exit and parking charges on vehicles, and property. Land rents, annual property taxes, and vehicle taxes will have to go up when Delhi achieves statehood. This is because in future, Delhi will have to pay for its own law and order costs, including policemen. More money will also have to be raised for investing in public transport. The Delhi Metro will have to charge more or be subsidised by the state.

Third, city-states cannot be traditional manufacturing centres as they will be unviable and polluting. Cities tend to attract higher wages than non-urban centres, and this automatically means only high-value adding, automated manufacturing or non-polluting industries and services can be set up there. But these kinds of jobs need skilled manpower and a knowledge base, which means attracting high-income knowledge workers and not the hoi-polloi of the rest of India. But these are precisely the people (the Poorvanchalis, the minorities) who lifted Kejriwal's mandate from a sedate majority to an overwhelming one. The underclass has a bigger claim on his resources than the middle and upper classes - but it is the latter who will build the new Delhi.

Fourth, city-states need different governance structures compared to normal states with a mix of the rural and urban. No successful city-state can attract talent and skilled workers without running a very efficient, corporatised form of government. But Kejriwal has been talking just the opposite: empowering"gram" and "mohalla sabhas" that can realistically decide only things like where to store the garbage or stop a neighbourhood brothel. Mohalla sabhas cannot become the driving structures of an urbanised, knowledge-driven future state which may continue to receive a huge influx of underfed, illiterate, and unskilled or semi-skilled migrants. It is a recipe for chaos.
Delhi will have to think of a corporatised and top-down governance structure like Singapore or Shanghai. It needs a CEO - which Kejriwal can surely provide, but this is not what he has been talking about. The only city-states that work are those that can centralise and optimise decision-making powers and deliver world quality public services, especially in a super-diverse city like Delhi. Delhi's babu culture is particularly unsuited for a city-state, and mid-level babus voted for Kejriwal. Is he going to take them on?

Fifth, statehood for Delhi means Kejriwal will be a net buyer of power and water from outside. This is already the case, but if power and water has to come from elsewhere (other states) and shared with the central administrative district run by the home ministry, it cannot be subsidised. Delhi can set up its own power plants, but these will have to be based on clean gas or renewable sources - both more expensive. Coal-based power will have to be bought from other states - at market rates.

Full statehood means Kejriwal will have to abandon his dreams of cutting tariffs for power and giving free water to all and sundry. A rich city-state can afford to pay, and it should.

Sixth, as a city-state which is hemmed in by three other states, Delhi will ultimately run out of land. The benefits of Delhi's sprawling growth will go to the contiguous states of Haryana, UP and Rajasthan - as it already does - and Delhi's residential growth will have to come vertically. This means Delhi has to think Singapore, not spatial growth.

All of this can be done. It all depends on whether Kejriwal wants to run a city or a state.

I am the last one to believe city-states cannot work. They do. But it needs a different mindset to run - the mindset of a corporate CEO, not a populist rabble-rouser. City-states are capable of generating enormous value for the whole hinterland if they are run well and autonomously (read what Firstpostwrote about the subject earlier, in the context of Mumbai, another mega-city that needs full statehood to flower).

So if Arvind Kejriwal wants full statehood for Delhi, he has to rethink and reboot his party and his own approach to governance. It would also be a welcome shift.

All hail Arvind Kejriwal, CEO-Mayor of the city-state of Delhi?

Careful what you ask for: Kejriwal's full statehood demand can badly backfire

First Post is an open congress supporter and Anti-BJP and no supporter of AAP. But I posted it as it has some valid points.

@Guynextdoor2 @SarthakGanguly @isupportaap @kbd-raaf @SwAggeR @SpArK @kaku1 @Prometheus @NKVD

If you ask me . Centre must separate and give it to Mr. Anarchist . Delhi people deserves it . Then they will know how stupid they where. Center can manage with Central Delhi . More than enough . But 33% who voted for BJP nearly 30 lac people will have to suffer for 53% voters. But it is what it is .

Days are not far people will slap Mr . Anarchist again

 

[Su-11]

Bharatiya Corruption Party and Kangress too demanded a separate state when they were campaigning. Power hungry bastards will do anything to grab power and make money. This entire thing reeks of opportunism, lies, deceit, flip-flop, going back on their words and a corrupt mindset which works only for self benefit rather than selfless service.


You know what they say, Tata Nano has more seats than the BJP!

 

[Abotani]

If kejri wants to keep doling out subsidies,Delhi is better off as a union territory as the centre will foot much of the bill.

 

[browser]

Kejrival was voted in to stamp out corruption.

If statehood is the means to achieve his primary purpose then so be it.

If he can do it without state hood then he should stfu and get on with his job.

 

[anant_s]

BJP and Congress promised full statehood earlier, Whats wrong if AAP is asking fair demand

The demand in neither new nor unjustified. Infact AAP proposed Jan lokpal bill proposes to bring Police in ambit of proposed law, requires Delhi, a full statehood. Today govt. of Delhi holds very little power and considering the size of population, Full statehood should be awarded irrespective of who is ruling the state.
As one political commentator observed in pre-election debate, Today Delhi Govt. is only slightly better than a large metropolitan city Municipal corporation with very little executive powers. Harsh as it may sound, it remains a bitter truth.

If you ask me . Centre must separate and give it to Mr. Anarchist . Delhi people deserves it . Then they will know how stupid they where. Center can manage with Central Delhi . More than enough . But 33% who voted for BJP nearly 30 lac people will have to suffer for 53% voters. But it is what it is .

Days are not far people will slap Mr . Anarchist again

Lets see it this way, this time around Mr. Kejriwal won't have any excuse. He'll have to perform. & if he has learnt from his past experience, he must make amends to his style of functioning. This is an unprecedented Thumping majority and i do hope voters aren't disappointed like the way it is happening in UP after SP won a similar huge majority in state elections, only to take state, further into darkness.
If AAP works smart and brings in transparent administration as they have promised, there is no reason to believe why their political fortunes will not improve elsewhere too.

 

[PARIKRAMA]

Can anyone tell me whats gonna happen to Delhi State Electricity Board which is already in losses and Mr Kejriwal in his manifesto had said about 50% power bill waiver or something which a TV channel reported amounting to 1600 Cr waive off? HOw will the power generating and transmission and distribution company survive this? As such its all bad debts and Non Performing assets already..

Secondly Delhite if i may add are enjoying cheaper fuel charges as compared to other states in the country. Petrol and Diesel gets excess charge by States for their own Budgetary income. In such a case, how will Delhi which does not have any natural resource of its own, its a landlocked state from all sides, its depending on water from UP and other state, how will it manage its budgetary requirements?

Thirdly, Kejriwal had talked a lot about security aspect and installation of CCTV cameras. I agree, Indian National Capital needs to be more secured but how will he change the mentality of the people who is divided among ethnic lines. Rape is not the only problem.. Agreed its No1 atm and yes unsafe for women. But crimes against other states espcially people of North east is a grim reminder how fragile and ineffective is the whole police system in Delhi. What will he do to that?

In some other blogs, some delhites said Delhi is for delhites rest all should get out. A mentality repeated.. it was first done by ShivSena in Mumbai where they talked about Mumbai being only for marathi. Kejriwal, an IITian and a learned men, would definitely find it difficult to widen such narrow mindness where people think about being state citizen rather Nations citizen. How will he address such a thing?

AAP did get a historic verdict. I do hope, they do justice to it. Its true we as a country do require a credible and strong alternative to Congress, Left and BJP. So all eyes would be on AAP who had now peoples mandate behind them. if they fail to deliver, our democracy would be given a deadly blow and will take decades to repair. The strong alternative is a need for a healthy and striving democracy.

 

[Pride]

Delhi can't and should have not full statehood and I was saying the same even when BJP was demanding it. First of all, Delhi doesn't have that much area to call itself as "State". Second, We don't want dual control of law and order by Center and State leadership. Third, It will be difficult if conflict occurs between center and state which commonly happens in Delhi with border areas.

People, who are comparing DC or London should know the fact that all important government offices in both cities are with in a small area unlike Delhi. They can't be ruled by Delhi Police under statehood.