AAP to intensify campaign for full statehood for Delhi

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will intensify its campaign for full statehood for Delhi, its leader Gopal Rai said today.

"The need for full statehood is being felt all the more now because the Centre, despite the Supreme Court's verdict, is shamelessly preventing the Delhi government from implementing its decisions on non-reserved subjects," he said.

The party has so far collected signatures of one-and-a-lakh people for the statehood demand under its "Dilli Mange Apna Haq" campaign, launched on July 3.

Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal reviewed the progress of the campaign yesterday, Rai said.

"So far 1.52 lakh people have signed the letter addressed to the Prime Minister seeking full statehood for Delhi. The campaign will be expedited and taken to booth level in the coming days," said Rai, the Delhi convenor of the AAP.

A meeting of party office-bearers will be held on Sunday to take stock of the campaign and intensify it, he said.

Rai said the demand for full statehood was a political struggle and that even the BJP and the Congress had earlier supported it.

"Those who seek vote in elections should clear their stand why they did not fulfil the full statehood demand despite promising it," he said.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court ruled that the Delhi Lieutenant Governor had no independent power to take decisions and was bound by the elected government's advice. The ruling also held that the Lieutenant Governor, who is appointed by the Centre, cannot act as an "obstructionist."