Delhi not property of individual or party to decide statehood issue: Kejriwal

Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal Wednesday said the national capital is not the property of any individual or party and the people of Delhi would decide if it is granted full statehood, as he raised the pitch for one of his party's key demands.

Claiming that people of Delhi have been exploited and cheated for the past 70 years, Kejriwal said city BJP president Manoj Tiwari says the national capital cannot be given full statehood as its chief minister protested in front of the Rail Bhawan.

"Tiwari says Delhi cannot be granted statehood as I had sat on a dharna. Tumhare baap ki Dilli hai (Is Delhi your family property?) Who are you?" Kejriwal said referring to Tiwari.

"I want to ask Manoj Tiwari and the BJP that when Mamata Banerjee protested in West Bengal was West Bengal made half state, when Narendra Modi protested in Gujarat over the Narmada issue, was Gujarat was made a half state, when Chandrababu Naidu protested to give Andhra Pradesh special status was it made a half state. In Bihar, Nitish Kumar protested, so should it be made a half state too?" he asked.

"Our freedom fighters fought for democracy, not Tiwari's or Modi's fathers," Kejriwal said.

He said Delhi is not the property of any individual or party to decide whether it would be given full statehood or not. "It is the people of Delhi who would decide if it would be granted full statehood or not."
Asserting that the upcoming polls will be fought on the issue of full statehood, Kejriwal criticised Modi for not fulfilling this promise as mentioned in BJP's 2014 manifesto. "It amounts to cheating. They (the BJP) should come clean."