The Aam Aadmi Party will be rolling out a “movement” in support of restoring the “rights” of Delhiites by demanding that Delhi get the status of a full State, Delhi AAP convener Gopal Rai said on Monday.
Addressing a press conference at the AAP office here, Mr. Rai said the party had called a meeting of its MLAs in Delhi on Saturday and all office-bearers on Sunday to finalise its strategy for the campaign for statehood.
Mr. Rai said the people of Delhi had faced “injustice” after the Centre took control over matters of services in the Delhi government in 2015, followed by the High Court’s decision to uphold that notification in 2016 and the Supreme Court’s decision on February 14 to send the question of services to a three-judge Bench.
“We have come to the point today that all doors are closed. So we have decided that we will go to the public. We will launch a mass movement against the injustice to Delhiites,” he said, adding that statehood would be the focal point for the AAP’s Lok Sabha campaign.
He said while Delhi gives ₹1.25 lakh crore in taxes to the Centre, the Delhi government gets back only ₹325 crore in the Budget. He added that the aim of the campaign was to win all seven Lok Sabha seats of Delhi, “make the Mahagathbandan government at the Centre”, referring to the anti-BJP alliance, and get full statehood for Delhi, which can be done by a Constitutional amendment.
LS candidates
Mr. Rai had earlier announced that the AAP would be announcing its candidates for Delhi, Haryana and Punjab Lok Sabha seats by February 15. When asked about the delay, Mr. Rai said the SC judgment in the Delhi vs Centre matter came on February 14 and then the party decided to launch a public campaign on statehood. He said the candidates would be announced after the statehood campaign.
