lok-sabha-elections

Updated: Feb 22, 2019 09:02 IST

Stepping up the campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday promised full statehood to Delhi in two years if the party won all seven seats.

Kejriwal also said he would get every family a house to live in the city if his party won the general elections in the city.

Speaking at two public meetings on Thursday, the chief minister also criticised the Congress for not accepting AAP’s ‘repeated offers’ for an alliance in Delhi to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). “Across India, votes against the BJP should not be divided at any cost. Even in Delhi, there should only be one candidate against the BJP. We have got tired of repeatedly telling the Congress that there should be an alliance between them and the AAP. But, the intentions of the Congress do not appear to be good,” said Kejriwal at a meeting held in east Delhi’s Gandhi Nagar. He said the Congress is trying to weaken regional parties in not just Delhi but also in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

Delhi Congress president Sheila Dikshit, however, said she was never approached by Kejriwal to forge an alliance. “He has not spoken to us. He does not know what he is saying. The AAP has reached the stage of frustration,” Dikshit, a three-time chief minister of Delhi, said.

At a second gathering in north Delhi’s Azadpur, Kejriwal made a strong pitch for full statehood by promising to give Delhi the status in two months of winning all seven parliamentary seats. “Ten years from the day Delhi is given the status of full statehood, I will give every Delhiite a concrete house to live in. This time do not vote to elect the Prime Minister. Vote to get full statehood for Delhi,” he said.

The AAP has renewed its demand for full statehood after the Supreme Court on February 14 referred the issue of transfer and posting of bureaucrats to a larger bench.

The AAP convener also criticised the Centre for not running its housing agency, Delhi Development Authority (DDA), efficiently. He also sought control over the Delhi Police to ensure women’s safety and improve the city’s law and order situation.

The BJP criticised Kejriwal for his “U-Turn” on his ties with the Congress and asked why he was so keen for an alliance when he had initiated a movement against the same party. “Kejriwal is the king of U-Turns and Congress the mother of corruption. The people of Delhi very well understand it. They will give a fitting reply,” said Manoj Tiwari, Delhi BJP chief.

Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Kejriwal is on a spree to inaugurate development works in unauthorised colonies – a flagship programme of the AAP government.

The CM on Thursday inaugurated development works in four unauthorised colonies of Gandhi Nagar assembly constituency. A total of 181 lanes of 9.30 kilometres would be constructed under the project in these colonies. The total length of the drains to be constructed is 6.10 kilometres, while about one lakh residents are likely to benefit from the project.

(With inputs from PTI)

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