Over 1.5 lakh people had signed the Aam Aadmi Party’s letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking statehood for Delhi, AAP Delhi convener Gopal Rai said on Thursday.

After a convention on July 1, the AAP’s signature campaign for statehood for Delhi had started on July 3, said Mr. Rai.

As on Thursday, he said over 1.52 lakh signatures had been collected from across Delhi’s 70 Assembly constituencies. The AAP had set the target for its campaign at 10 lakh signatures, after which it would present the letter to Mr. Modi. Mr. Rai said the campaign would be strengthened further, with public meetings planned in all constituencies on July 15.

Following this, the campaign would be taken up at the booth-level, he added.

A meeting to assess the campaign had taken place at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence on Wednesday.

Decision by Parliament

Referring to the Supreme Court Constitution Bench’s judgment on the powers of the elected government and the Lieutenant-Governor last week, Mr. Rai said though the apex court had said Delhi was not a State, the issue of whether to grant statehood would be decided by the Parliament.

“We are feeling the need for statehood even more now because even after the Supreme Court order that said there are three reserved subjects, the Centre is shamelessly not following the judgment,” said Mr. Rai.

Source: Read Full Article