Kejriwal said he will go on fast from March 1.Stating that his indefinite fast from March 1 on the issue of complete statehood for Delhi was his last resort, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Sunday accused the BJP government at the Centre of “snatching” the AAP government’s powers over the last four years.
“Delhi is India’s national capital, so let the Centre keep the entire NDMC area under its complete control. How can the rest of Delhi, in which Delhiites elect their own government, be kept subservient to the Centre? No more injustice to be tolerated,” he said in a tweet.
Sources say the party is evaluating three to four probable venues for the hunger strike and will announce the final venue in the next two days. The CM’s residence, Ramlila Maidan and Jantar Mantar are on the list of venues.
To take forward its push for statehood — which is the focal point of the AAP’s Lok Sabha campaign — the party has divided the capital into 560 zones and three committees have been formed at the central, Vidhan Sabha and zonal level. The venue of the CM’s fast will be the control room from where instructions will be sent out, said sources.
“From March 1 to 9, as many as 560 ‘nyay yatras’ will be taken out at the zonal level. RWAs, students, teachers, lawyers and professionals will also be involved in these yatras. After March 9, all AAP MLAs will join Kejriwal at the venue of the hunger strike,” said senior party leader Gopal Rai.
Meanwhile, the BJP termed Kejriwal’s move “drama before elections”. “He is trying to fool people one more time before the polls by raising the full statehood issue. It’s his last option to hide his government’s failures,” Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari claimed.
Congress chief Sheila Dikshit said: “Kejriwal is making empty talks about full statehood for Delhi… If he was serious about full statehood, he should have taken up the issue four years ago. He is raking up the issue with an eye on the Lok Sabha polls.”
— With PTI inputs
