Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has announced that he will start an indefinite hunger strike in support of his demand for the full statehood of Delhi. Speaking in the Delhi Assembly on Saturday, Kejriwal said that time had come for a decisive war and he was even prepared to die for this cause.
He told the assembly, “A movement will start from 1 March in Delhi to get the full statehood. This movement will not end until Delhi gets the full statehood. To unite the people of Delhi and kickstart the movement, I will sit on an indefinite hunger strike. My purpose is only to unite the people of Delhi.”
He said that the people of Delhi wanted a full statehood and his indefinite strike was only to fulfill their demands.
He said, “Even if we die during this movement, we will happily embrace the death. Now it’s do or die battle for us. Delhi will have to be granted a full statehood.”
His announcement to stage an indefinite hunger strike comes just few weeks before the Lok Sabha polls after his efforts to stitch an alliance with the Congress failed.
He said that people of Delhi have been demanding for democracy for the last 70 years, but it hasn’t happened. “Yes, people of Delhi cast their votes, they elected their government. But the elected government in Delhi has no power.”
A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court on 14 February had ruled that the Kejriwal government had no control over the Anti Corruption Bureau of the Delhi government. It also said that the power to transfer IAS officers remained with the LG.
Kejriwal had termed the Supreme Court’s verdict against the constitution and democracy.
