In his first public comments after his 10-day meditation break, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday reiterated his demand for full Statehood for Delhi.
The Chief Minister said the decision to make the lieutenant-Governor the supremo in Delhi is an insult to the people of Delhi and the choice they made in the February 2015 Assembly elections.
Taking a dig without referring anyone after the Delhi High Court judgement, Kejriwal questioned, “Why should the value of a vote in Delhi be any less than that of a person voting in say a State like HaryanaIJ If a person votes in a State like Haryana, the elected Government has much more power but the powers of a Government elected by people of Delhi are a lot less. This scenario is an insult to the people of the Delhi. This is wrong,” Kejriwal said.
“We are the Capital city and by that measure we have a greater right to have equal powers but our vote has no value,” Kejriwal said.
Addressing a meeting to mark the unveiling of a statue of Delhi’s first Chief Minister, Chaudhry Brahm Prakash at the Government run Charak Sansthan in Khera Dabar, Najafgarh, Kejriwal launched a scathing attack on the Central Government and said he and his Government will fight for full Statehood for Delhi and go to any extent to make it happen for the benefit of the people of Delhi.
AAP convener also quoted late Brahm Prakash’s son as saying that his father too fought doggedly to secure statehood for Delhi. Citing a conversation with the son of Chaudhary Braham Prakash, Kejriwal said, “Chaudhary Braham Prakash’s son told me that his father was as ‘ziddi’ (adamant) as we are and would pursue with determination whatever he sought for the people.
“Once we decide to do something we do it. Chahey uskey liye thodi si ungli tedhi kyon na karni padhey (even if it requires twisting my fingers a bit). Kai baari seedhi ungli sey ghee nahin nikalta phir ungli tedhi karni padti hai. (Sometimes it is not possible to achieve the goal with a straight finger so you have to twist it).”
“The issues we are fighting for today are what Delhi’s first chief minister Chaudhary Braham Prakash was fighting for in 1950 -51. He too was saying Delhi should get full statehood and we are also asking for the same. He was also fighting for the rights of the people of Delhi and so are we,” said Kejriwal, adding ‘aur yeh jo itney badey badey goondey baithey hain yeh aisey nahin maantey. ( These big goondas don’t understand the straightway).”
Underlining the development work being done by the AAP Government, Kejriwal said providing better education and health facilities were the main focus of his Government.
“We are focusing more on health and education because we feel that better education of our children will help in the development of our nation.”
He said the Government would open 1,000 Mohalla Clinics by the end of this year and that 100 of them were already functional.
“We want to construct 10 big hospitals across Delhi but the DDA (Delhi Development Authority) is not providing us land even though we are ready to pay for the land,” he added.
Kejriwal said a naturopathy centre would be opened at the Chaudhry Brahm Prakash Ayurveda Charak Sansthan in outer Delhi.