Kejriwal reiterates demand for Delhi's statehood

In his first public comments after his 10-day meditation break, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday reiterated his demand for full statehood of Delhi.

Addressing a meeting to mark unveiling of a statue of Delhi's first Chief Minister, Chaudhry Brahm Prakash, Kejriwal also made an oblique criticism of a Delhi High Court ruling that has given Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung primacy in the affairs of the administration in the capital.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader quoted the late Brahm Prakash's son as saying that his father fought doggedly to secure statehood for Delhi.

"We are also fighting for statehood," Kejriwal said. "We are also fighting for the rights of the people."

The Chief Minister said the decision to make the Lt. Governor the supremo in Delhi was an insult to the people of Delhi and the choice they made in the February 2015 assembly elections.

"Why should it be that the value of a vote in Haryana is more than in Delhi? This is an insult to the people of Delhi. We too are part of this country. But our vote has no value," he quipped.

Underlining the development work being done by the AAP government, Kejriwal said that 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.

--IANS

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