New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said if Delhi is granted full statehood, he will turn it into a model city and an example for the world with everyone in the national capital having their own flat.
The Aam Aadmi Party chief alleged that the people of Delhi are insulted time and again by the central government which has given a “half status” to the national capital. He appealed to them to unite and join the movement towards full statehood. “At the time of Sheila ji’s government (former chief minister Sheila Dikshit) the power tariff used to increase every year for 15 years but we reduced it to half,” he said, addressing a rally in Kondli in East Delhi.
Kejriwal claimed that if the city-state gets full statehood, he would “build a model city in which everyone would have their own flat and the national capital would be an example for the whole world”. “The real Delhi resides beyond the ring road, the real Delhi is in small lanes where there were no proper roads earlier,” he said. At another rally in R K Puram, Kejriwal claimed that no party is going to get absolute majority this time and urged people to vote for full statehood this time and not for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Accusing the Centre of creating “hurdles” for Delhi’s development, the AAP leader alleged that he faced several obstructions at various stages to get clearances from the central government. He said the people of Delhi pay Rs 1.5 lakh crore worth Income Tax and receive only Rs 325 crore from the Centre. “Why should we pay so much and get so less in return? What have Delhiites done to the central government to deserve this? The situation is similar to the time before India got independence.
“First Britishers looted us, now the central government is looting us,” the chief minister said. “Just for political enmity, PM Modi stopped the development work for the common man of Delhi. Last time you voted for him, but this time do not vote for him, otherwise he would not let me work for development,” he added. The ruling AAP in the city is fighting the upcoming Lok Sabha election on the agenda of granting full statehood to Delhi. Raising the slogan of ‘Poorna Rajya Banao Jhadu ka Button Dabao’, the party is busy convincing people to vote for AAP to get full statehood for Delhi. The election to the seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital will be held on May 12.
