Kejriwal announces indefinite fast for full statehood to Delhi from March 1

Ananya Panda
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, February 23

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday announced an indefinite fast from March 1 to demand full statehood for Delhi— which he dubbed as the “only remedy” to the ongoing power clashes between the Narendra Modi government and the Delhi government. 

Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) called it a political stunt in view of the Lok Sabha elections.

Addressing MLAs in the Delhi Assembly, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo suggested PM Modi, whom he accused of stunting the AAP government’s work and crucial projects during the last four years, to focus only on dealing with Pakistan while claiming that till now the PM has been “incompetent” in doing so.

To back his party’s statehood case, Kejriwal ranted about the challenges faced by the Delhi government due to control of police, law and order and land and municipal corporations resting with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Modi-led Centre.

Participating in a discussion on granting full statehood to Delhi, on which the Assembly passed a resolution later, Kejriwal claimed the Centre’s control over services has prevented his government from providing at least two lakh jobs.

The PM doesn’t have time to listen to Delhi’s traders who are troubled due to sealing, concerns of jobless youth claiming that in Delhi alone two lakh jobs can be provided to youth, Kejriwal said.

He also blamed the BJP control over the corporations for the capital’s civic woes and DDA for “non-allotment” of land for new schools, besides issues related to tussle over regularisation of contract teachers, setting up of mohalla clinics and installation of CCTVs, etc., in the city.

Kejriwal criticised both the BJP and Congress saying they promised statehood for Delhi but after coming to power they backtracked. “This is like backstabbing people of Delhi,” the AAP national convener said. The resolution demanded the Centre declare Delhi a full-fledged state barring the areas governed by the NDMC Act which it may retain.

However, Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta claimed the AAP is not serious about statehood for Delhi and is only raising it to hide its failures in run-up to Lok Sabha election.

“This bill is now being passed when we know Parliament is not going to meet again before elections,” Gupta said, adding the move is only to mislead people of Delhi in view of the upcoming elections.