Do you think Delhi will ever get full statehood?

It isn’t just about a city that demands full statehood. Delhi is also the nation's capital. This is why there exist aplenty of political and administrative challenges on way to turn it into one single state, under an independent government.

In honesty, the operational structure of Delhi is quite fussy. And this makes all the complaints of AAP government, in many ways, quite fitting. National Capital Territory of Delhi includes 3 sub-territories: MCD, NCT, and NDMC. These territories of NCT are headed by Lieutenant Governor, who directly reports to the central government. Chief Minister, although appointed by the people, also have to work with the council of ministers who are appointed by the central government.

In addition, there are many bodies in Delhi that are controlled, directly or indirectly, by the central government. For instance: Delhi police is controlled by the centre, Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is chaired by LG, who reports to the centre.

(Courtesy: The Indian Express)

So, if Delhi gets a complete state status, the elected government would have complete autonomy of all the administrative and legal bodies. From law and order problems to water and garbage issues-- these can easily be fixed by the state government. There would be a few other benefits for Delhi and Delhites.

In the same context though, there would certainly be some disadvantages as well. One of the biggest challenges would be that the Delhi Government would have to pay to its police and other services from its own pockets. (Central government does that now.) To cover these expenses, the taxes would be increased, which would increase inflation, making Delhi an even more expensive city/state. In addition, the central government will also face a lot of challenges in coordination, law-order, and security because, remember, Delhi is capital of India; this is where world's leaders come and visit.

(Courtesy: India Post)

In short, there are both advantages and disadvantages of granting Delhi a full statehood status.

One must also wonder/consider how many state governments, with independent control, have really managed to do good for their states. If we believe that once Delhi becomes a complete state it will get better, we are, in a way, saying that AAP government is different and better, which isn’t a wrong thing per se.

I personally believe that the Delhi government should have complete control over the state. It literally doesn’t make sense that an elected government isn't responsible for the functioning in the state. If the intent of AAP is good, full statehood can do wonders for Delhi. BUT the question is if their intent is really good?

General Election 2019 is approaching, and Aam Aadmi Party is contesting on all the 7 Lok Sabha seats of Delhi. They have made it clear that they would pick this statehood issue in their campaigns. This comes in the backdrop of SC's judgment against AAP. Strategically, this looks like a sound idea. Blame the center for all the incompetence and failures in the state -- "they didn't let us do that." But in the past three years, we have seen many clashes between the AAP government and centre, which makes their claims quite legit.

But the bottom line remains the same: even with all the intents on all side, there exist many challenges on the way of Delhi getting full statehood status. This is why it's very unlikely that the city will get the complete autonomy it is looking for anytime soon.

Let's see how the Delhites receive AAP's campaigns and its demands for full statehood. I highly doubt a lot of them really care about this.