Kejriwal appeals PM Modi to grant full statehood to Delhi

■ Aam Aadmi Party to launch door- to- door campaign

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to grant full statehood to Delhi, an issue that the ruling AAP is raising emphatically in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls.

The Aam Aadmi Party ( AAP) on Tuesday announced holding a doortodoor campaign to tell people how the BJP had done “injustice” to them on the issue. In a series of tweets on Wednesday, Mr Kejriwal, who is also the AAP national convener, appealed to the BJP government at the Centre to grant full statehood to Delhi, claiming it was also promised by the Prime Minister.

Reacting to the Prime Minister’s greetings to the people of Arunachal Pradesh on their statehood day, Mr Kejriwal tweeted: “Sir, Delhi is also waiting for its statehood day. U had promised to the people of Delhi that you wud grant full statehood to Delhi. Kindly do it sir. People of Delhi have faced injustice for 70 years now ( sic).”

In another tweet in Hindi, Mr Kejriwal said: “Before becoming Prime Minister, Modiji had raised voice for full statehood. Today, he is the Prime Minister. The people of Delhi want to remind him of his promise.”

As part of its strategy for the general election, the AAP will distribute the BJP’s manifestoes for previous elections, including that for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, to remind people that the saffron Arvind Kejriwal

party had supported the demand for full statehood to Delhi. Also the party’s student wing, the Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti ( CYSS), has been energised for effective participation in the full statehood campaign.

The ruling AAP has revived its demand for full statehood after a twojudge bench of the Supreme Court agreed that the Centre should have the final word on posting and transfer of bureaucrats in the national capital administration, but disagreed on finer details, resulting in a split verdict and referral of the matter to a larger bench.

AAP’s Delhi unit convener Gopal Rai on Wednesday said 1,000 coordinators would be appointed for effectively running its door- to- door campaign for full statehood, in which students and youth will play a crucial role. The campaign will be launched soon and it will expose how the BJP has “betrayed” Delhi on the issue of full statehood, he said.

“AAP demands the BJP clears its stand on full statehood,” Mr Rai said.