The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday said that the Centre would be willing to discuss on the issue of full statehood to be granted to Delhi after the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party takes oath as the next government in the city.
"The Central government would be willing to engage and it has already shown its willingness and its keenness to engage with the new government-elect, led by Arvind Kejriwal. The government has to be formed and the government has to discuss internally and make certain proposals to Central government," BJP national spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao told ANI.
"This issue of statehood has been pending for several decades. So, I think there are lot of issues to be discussed and resolved. Let the state government first be constituted and then let make their own proposals which can be discussed with the Central government," he added.
Earlier in the day, Kejriwal met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and raised the issue of granting Delhi a status of a full-fledged state.
The same demand was also raised by the chief minister-designate during an earlier meeting with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
In an unprecedented first for the national capital, the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party received 67 seats out of the 70 on offer in the Delhi polls. With this extraordinary mandate, the AAP has become the first non-Congress and non-BJP party to rule the city.