AAP to revive statehood demand at Sunday meet

New Delhi: Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party on Friday announced that to push their demand for Delhi’s full statehood, they will launch a campaign from July 1 where every locality’s elected representative will be invited to discuss why Delhi needs to be a “full state.”

Addressing the media, Cabinet minister Gopal Rai said, “On July 1, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will organise a state gathering at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium at 3.00 pm, where each locality’s representative will participate and discuss why the national capital needs full statehood.”

He said that in the next phase of “Dilli maange apna haq” (Delhi demands its right) campaign, Aam Aadmi Party, from July 3-25, will reach out to 10 lakh families in Delhi to sign on the demand for full statehood.

“Our party workers will go to every household in Delhi along with a message from (chief minister) Arvind Kejriwal to sign a letter demanding full statehood for Delhi. We will then deliver these signed letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Mr Rai said.

According to him, while the area under New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) can come under the Central government, the rest of Delhi should be given full statehood.

“The NDMC zone, where all the dignitaries live, should be handled by the Central government and the rest of the Delhi should be given full statehood so that when the time came, the people of the state could demand answers from the state government,” he said.

Mr Rai said if Delhi is given full statehood, problems like unemployment, admission of Delhi youth in colleges, and slum clusters will be solved.

“Youths with 95 per cent marks are wandering from college to college but aren’t getting admission. If Delhi becomes a full state, we can build more colleges on Delhi’s land. This will guarantee admission in Delhi. If the national capital is granted full statehood, we can guarantee a house for every resident and a job for at least 80 per cent people,” he said.

Calling the whole situation a big insult to the people of Delhi, Mr Rai said Congress and BJP have always demanded that Delhi get full statehood. However, “Congress is now hiding its face and BJP is covering up the matter.”