Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit on Tuesday hit out at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for keeping the full statehood demand for Delhi at the centre of their election campaign. She said that winning the Lok Sabha elections would require focus on national issues.
Conceding that local issues would be a factor, Dikshit said, “These are national elections and you cannot go into these polls with the demand of full statehood,” she said.
The former Delhi CM said even if a party wins all seven seats in Delhi, it may not ensure full statehood for Delhi since it would require amending the Constitution. A bill to amend the Constitution has to be passed by a two-thirds majority in Parliament.
Dikshit said that the Congress government also talked about full statehood but the Arvind Kejriwal government has suddenly woken up to it towards the end of their tenure. “I don’t know why they have suddenly picked up this issue now. We served this city for 15 years with the same limitations and did not compromise on development work. Statehood cannot be an excuse for not working,” Dikshit said.
AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj hit back at the Congress, saying that AAP hopes the grand old party keeps it in their manifesto. “It is good that she has accepted that statehood is key issue for Delhi. As statehood can be accorded only by the parliament, it is naturally the most important issue for Delhi in national elections,” he said. Referring to the creation of the states of Telangana and Uttarakhand, Bharadwaj said people of these two states achieved their objective only because they made it an issue in the national polls.
{{/usCountry}}AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj hit back at the Congress, saying that AAP hopes the grand old party keeps it in their manifesto. “It is good that she has accepted that statehood is key issue for Delhi. As statehood can be accorded only by the parliament, it is naturally the most important issue for Delhi in national elections,” he said. Referring to the creation of the states of Telangana and Uttarakhand, Bharadwaj said people of these two states achieved their objective only because they made it an issue in the national polls.
{{/usCountry}}Kick starting AAP’s campaign last week, Kejriwal had said that his party’s focus will be to get Delhi the status of a full state. He urged voters to not vote for the BJP or the Congress because they “failed to fulfil their promise of full statehood”.
“Don’t think about making a Prime Minister in the upcoming elections. Think about yourself, your family and your children,” Kejriwal had said.
Dikshit said that the Congress has been assessing the mood of the country and the party manifesto will have a wholesome agenda for the people. “Let the other parties do what they have to. We will have our own focus areas,” she said.