NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday attacked the BJP for not fulfilling its promise of statehood for Delhi, and said that the party’s state president, Manoj Tiwari, was spreading lies by misquoting the Supreme Court decision on the same. Tiwari, on his part, maintained that AAP was “misleading” people by “playing politics of appeasement”.
Earlier in the day, Senior AAP leader Gopal Rai said, “The BJP has been resorting to daily lies in an unsuccessful attempt to divert attention, fearing that it stands fully exposed before the people of Delhi and will not be able to face them during the Lok Sabha elections”.
He said Tiwari was “completely lying and misleading the people of Delhi”. According to media reports, responding to a question on the issue of full statehood, Tiwari on Friday said that the BJP never took a U-turn on the issue but the Supreme Court had made it clear that it could not be done.
Noting that the apex court had said on February 14 that the Centre should have the final word on posting and transfer of bureaucrats in the national capital administration, but disagreement among the judges on the finer details resulted in a split verdict and the matter got referred to a larger bench, Rai challenged the Delhi BJP president to “make public where, when and in which case the Supreme Court stated what he has been claiming”.
“Is Manoj Tiwari not even aware that full statehood for Delhi will be granted by Parliament through a Constitutional amendment Bill, like the one which was presented by Mr LK Advani in Parliament in August 2003, or is he deliberately misleading the people of Delhi? Manoj Tiwari says Delhi can’t be granted statehood since (Chief Minister) Arvind Kejriwal sat on a dharna outside Rail Bhawan in January 2014, then why did his party promise statehood for Delhi in March 2014, when BJP released a Delhi-specific manifesto?” the AAP convener asked.
In a presser countering the AAP’s attack, Tiwari asked why various promises like installation of CCTVs, made by his party, remained “unfulfilled” even when there was “no need of statehood” to implement those schemes.
“We want to ask Kejriwal that when there is no need of full statehood to Delhi for improving the transport system, pollution, development of roads, installation of CCTVs, deputing marshals in buses, providing security to women, implementing Ayushman Bharat and 10 per cent reservation to the economically weaker sections, why has he not implemented these schemes,” Tiwari said.
He added that people “have clearly rejected” Kejriwal on the issue of full statehood. “This is the reason he is begging for an alliance with the Congress, apprehensive of defeat in the next elections.”
AAP’s main poll plank
The Aam Aadmi Party has made full statehood for Delhi the main issue of its campaign for the Lok Sabha elections. In his campaign speeches, AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been saying that the people of Delhi will have to fight for statehood. On Thursday, AAP said it would back a government of the “grand alliance” at the Centre if it worked towards granting full statehood to Delhi.
“The issue of full statehood is very crucial for us. The party will support a grand alliance government at the Centre on the condition that it works towards granting full statehood to Delhi as soon as possible,” said AAP leader Gopal Rai.