NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had lied to the people on granting statehood for Delhi, and Delhiites would not suffer any more injustice on this issue.
Kejriwal said the argument that Delhi could not be granted statehood since it was the capital of India does not work as the people of Delhi were ready to give complete control of the NDMC area to the Central government, and the rest of Delhi, from where the government is elected could not be subservient to the Centre.
The chief minister said his decision to go on an indefinite fast from March 1 was taken as a last resort, after all efforts to persuade the BJP-led Central government to allow the elected Delhi government to function without unjustified interference had failed.
The BJP has termed Kejriwal’s move a “drama before elections”, and alleged that the ruling Aam Aadmi Party had no achievement to show to the people to seek votes in the coming Lok Sabha elections.
Kejriwal said that in the last four years the Modi government had passed orders to snatch the powers of the elected Delhi government, and this “treachery” would be placed in the people’s court, which was supreme in a democracy.
“Modi ji’s Central government created hurdles in all major decisions of public welfare taken by the Delhi government. From the installation of CCTVs for residents’ safety to the construction of schools, hospital, Mohalla Clinics etc., hurdles were created in the implementation of each and every decision at every step. We tried everything, from fervent appeals to dharnas, and even knocked at the doors of courts. Finally, when we are left with no option, we are going on an indefinite fast,” Kejriwal said.
The chief minister said the BJP stood exposed on the issue of providing statehood to Delhi, since the party had taken a U-turn on its decades-old stand of statehood for Delhi.“The BJP’s opposition to statehood for Delhi now is its confession that Modi ji lied to the people of Delhi in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections,” he said.Reminding the BJP of its commitment to statehood for Delhi, Kejriwal said that during the tenure of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government at the Centre, BJP leader LK Advani had introduced the Delhi statehood bill in the Lok Sabha.
The Bill was finally allowed to lapse, he said. “Did they intend to just play with the emotions of the people of Delhi? Why this injustice with Delhiites,” the chief minister asked.Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari said Kejriwal’s statehood demand was “misplaced” after the Supreme Court delivered a split verdict on the issue of control of services in the National Capital Territory in the tussle between the Delhi government and the Centre, and referred the matter to a larger bench.
He said, “Delhi is not Kejriwal’s fiefdom, it’s national capital of India. Its existing governance model is based on this fact. Kejriwal is just trying to fool people one more time before the polls raising full statehood issue.”
Kejriwal confusing people: Sheila Dikshit
Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Sheila Dikshit said on Sunday that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was confusing the people by saying that the Aam Aadmi Party will have a tie-up with the Congress in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. She clarified that the Congress would contest the Lok Sabha elections on its own and will sweep the seven seats in Delhi. Addressing workers’ conventions at Mehrauli and Badarpur, Dikshit said that Kejriwal was talking about getting full statehood for Delhi to confuse people, when he knew that only a few months remained in the AAP government’s term.