In a republic, the power should reside with those who have been elected by the people and that are the reason the AAP and people of Delhi want full Statehood, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Thursday, adding that multiplicity of agencies is hampering the development of the national Capital.
"The full Statehood of Delhi is what the people of Delhi want. This multiplicity of agencies is not favorable to anybody. I have been blamed several times regarding the completion of maximum initiatives in the last one year of my tenure. That is because all our files used to go to the Lieutenant Governor and it used to get stuck due to political reasons. When we got power, we were able to build mohalla clinics, install CCTV cameras," he said.
"In a republic, the power should reside with the people who have been voted to power. This (not having statehood status) is neither good for the country nor for the national Capital," he said.
Reacting on opinion polls carried out in the city, Kejriwal said, "The opinion polls can notify a trend but cannot count the exact seats of an electoral party. The opinion polls are clearly showing that the people want an AAP Governance model in the city. They do not want Delhi to have the same fate as MCDs or BJP," he said.
"I believe that the people of Delhi have already decided to vote for AAP in the upcoming elections, we will get a huge mandate and we will see the number of seats only then," he added.
Statehood was the main poll plank of AAP in Lok Sabha elections last year. Kejriwal recently said that the issue of full statehood for Delhi would continue to be part of the party's manifesto for the upcoming polls in Delhi. Delhi Assembly polls will be held on February 8 and the counting of votes will take place on February 11.