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 on granting it full statehood, as he raised the pitch for one of his party's key demands ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
Kejriwal and his party members burnt copies of the 2014 manifesto of BJP, outside its ITO office, in which it had promised full statehood.
Meanwhile, BJP workers led by Union minister Vijay Goel also burnt copies of AAP's manifesto and a symbolic tower of its "failed" promises while accusing it of "cheating" the people of Delhi.
Addressing media, Kejriwal claimed that people of Delhi have been exploited and cheated for the past 70 years.
City BJP president Manoj Tiwari said the national capital cannot be given full statehood as its chief minister protested in front of the Rail Bhawan, Kejriwal noted.
"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.
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"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."
AAP convener Kejriwal also slammed Khurana for "speaking against his father who had sacrificed his life for full statehood to Delhi."
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