New Delhi: After coming to power in Delhi by winning 67 seats in the 70-member Delhi Assembly, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal today met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Urban Development Minister M. Venakaiah Naidu. He was accompanied by senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia.
During the meeting, which lasted for a short duration, Kejriwal asked the Centre to grant Delhi complete Statehood for better governance.
Manish Sisodia said that they had discussed pertinent issues related to the Delhi government.
Arvind Kejriwal as Delhi's chief minister is likely to prove the biggest headache for Home Minister Rajnath Singh. The triumphant Aam Aadmi Party chief‘s ambitious plan to seek control of Delhi Police and Delhi Development Authority besides passage of the Jan Lokpal and Swaraj bills pits him in direct confrontation with the home ministry.
“Since Delhi is the National Capital, we have to work closely with the Home Ministry. So the AAP seeks constructed cooperation from the Centre”, said Sisodia.
“We have also asked Mr Singh look into the long pending statehood issue”, he said.
“During the meeting, we informally invited him to participate in the swearing- in ceremony”, he added.
The ceremony will take place in Ramlila maidan on 14th February.
Meanwhile, the home ministry has sanctioned Z-plus security for the AAP chief by Delhi Police.
Officials from home ministry have already started going through AAP's 70-point manifesto to brief the home minister.
The Union Territory division of the home ministry deals with all legislative and constitutional matters relating to Delhi besides overseeing the law and order situation. In his 49-day stint as chief minister after the 2013 polls, Kejriwal sat on a dharna asking the home ministry for control of Delhi Police and later quit over the non-passage of the Jan Lokpal Bill.
