AAP declares roadmap for ‘full statehood’

NEW DELHI:In the backdrop of a consistent tussle with the Centre, the AAP has decided to make “full statehood” for Delhi an election issue during the 2019 general elections and reach out to people in the national Capital on the same on which the party has made up its mind to target the BJP and the Congress.

Ananya Panda

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 10

In the backdrop of a consistent tussle with the Centre, the AAP has decided to make “full statehood” for Delhi an election issue during the 2019 general elections and reach out to people in the national Capital on the same on which the party has made up its mind to target the BJP and the Congress.

The AAP, which has already revived the debate over the constitutional status of Delhi through a special session in the Assembly, is all set for a campaign in whose first leg party leaders will hold around 300 meetings across the capital from June 17 to 24 to take party’s message of full statehood for Delhi.

The party will be contesting alone on all the seven Lok Sabha seats of the capital, announced minister Gopal Rai following an executive meeting, attended by the party’s top brass, MLAs, councillors and ward-level office-bearers, today at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence.

“It was decided that the way people of Delhi have been meted out with step- motherly treatment and their interests neglected (by the Central government and the LG) we will take the full-statehood agitation from the Aassembly to streets of Delhi ....The AAP is preparing to contest on all Lok Sabha seats in Delhi,” said Rai.

Sharing the roadmap of the campaign, Rai said the party will conduct meetings at 300 places in the city from June 17 to 24 in the first phase and the second phase will see Kejriwal addressing a party convention at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium on July 1 when a call on the next course of action will be taken.

The AAP dispensation will send its resolution on full statehood for Delhi to the Centre once passed in the Assembly and the message will also be a part of its reach-out exercise during the campaign by the Delhi’s ruling party.

An issue, the Kejriwal government backs with the alleged “undue interference” by the Modi government and LG Anil Baijal to scuttle the Delhi government’s major works during three years of its power to strengthen its case in run up to the next year’s general elections while accusing the BJP and the Congress of using the issue for political mileage. “We will also tell people about the U-turns of both the parties on statehood too,” Rai added.

The strategy meeting, addressed by Kejriwal, also saw discussion on the upcoming Assembly elections in three states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan where the BJP governments are in power. The party has decided to declare the names of its candidates by August-end for the elections slated for the end of this year.

“Had a meeting wid ward level office bearers of AAP Delhi. Made strategy to take msg of full statehood to every house in Delhi (sic),” Kejriwal tweeted after the meeting.