12 years ago, Sheila Dikshit was on Arvind Kejriwal's side

Today, the Aam Aadmi Party led by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is the only one demanding the withdrawal of the controversial home ministry order that gives the Centre the right to veto legislative proposals before they reach the Delhi assembly.

Today, the Aam Aadmi Party led by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is the only one demanding the withdrawal of the controversial home ministry order that gives the Centre the right to veto legislative proposals before they reach the Delhi assembly.

But it was not always so.

Nearly twelve years ago, it was former chief minister Sheila Dikshit who had crossed swords with the central government over the August 29, 2002 order that clipped the Delhi assembly's wings.

Back then, the BJP-led NDA was in power at the Centre. And former deputy prime minister Lal Krishna Advani was in the home minister's chair.

In fact, Dikshit had gone a step further and had the Delhi assembly summoned for a special one-day session on September 11, 2002 to hit out at the NDA government for issuing the notification.

She had the discussion capped by a set of two resolutions.

One reiterated the demand of statehood for Delhi.

The other made the same points that Kejriwal is now making: that the presidential order amending the Delhi government's Transaction of Business Rules "is directly violative of the Constitution of India and hence, ultra vires."

"This House resolves that in respect of transferred subjects, the Lt Governor should act only on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers," stated the Delhi assembly's resolution supported by Congress legislators, led by Dikshit.

The BJP legislators had then walked out in protest against the motion directed at the NDA government.