Kejriwal demands statehood for Delhi, Puducherry

Chennai, February 18

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday demanded statehood for both the National Capital and Puducherry, saying people in these two union territories should not be discriminated against.

Kejriwal, who was here en route to Puducherry to express solidarity with Chief Minister V Narayanaswamy — locked in a turf war with Lt Governor Kiran Bedi — alleged that the situation in the two union territories was the same.

Narayanasamy, his Cabinet colleagues and MLAs of both the Congress and DMK have been staging a dharna against Bedi in front of the Raj Nivas in Puducherry since February 13 in protest against the her “negative stand” towards various proposals of the territorial government.

“The LG of Puducherry is creating a lot of obstacles in the development work and creating problems for the elected government...we are facing exactly similar problems in Delhi,” Kejriwal, the AAP chief, told reporters at the airport here.

The Lieutenant Governors in both Delhi and Puducherry were appointees of the BJP-led government at the Centre, he said.

“I have come to express solidarity with Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanaswamy.

“We will demand that both Delhi and Puducherry be made full (fledged) states. There is no reason why people of these states should be discriminated against,” he said.

Asked if the Aam Aadmi Party would contest from Tamil Nadu or offer support to other parties, he said it would be made known later. PTI