Arvind Kejriwal demands statehood for Delhi, Puducherry, says 'no reason' to discriminate against people of two Union Territories

Chennai: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal Monday demanded statehood for both the national capital and Puducherry, saying people in these two union territories should not be discriminated against. Kejriwal, who was in Chennai en route to Puducherry to express solidarity with chief minister V Narayanaswamy - locked in a turf war with Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi- alleged that the situation in the two union territories was the same. [caption id=“attachment_5290781” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. PTI[/caption] Narayanaswamy, his cabinet colleagues and MLAs of both Congress and DMK have been staging a dharna against Bedi in front of the Raj Nivas in Puducherry since 13 February in protest against the her “negative stand” towards various proposals of the territorial government. “The LG of Puducherry is creating a lot of obstacles in the development work and creating problems for the elected government…we are facing exactly similar problems in Delhi,” Kejriwal, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief, told reporters at the airport in Chennai. “The Lieutenant Governors in both Delhi and Puducherry were appointees of the BJP-led government at the Centre,” he said. “I have come to express solidarity with Puducherry chief minister V Narayanaswamy. We will demand that both Delhi and Puducherry be made full (fledged) states. There is no reason why people of these states should be discriminated against,” he said. Asked if the AAP would contest from Tamil Nadu or offer support to other parties, he said it would be made known later.