New Delhi, Aug 21 (IANS): Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said that the Centre was against the idea of reopening hotels in the national capital, but he fought for it and managed to persuade them.

Making the claim while addressing representatives of hotel associations, he urged all stakeholders to now work together to overcome the economic challenges.

"The Central government was against the idea of opening the hotel industry in Delhi, and I would not blame them because the Centre must have thought that the cases might rise again.

"But I explained to them that the hotels are functioning in areas where the cases of corona are rising in the country. Either the Centre should shut down the hotels across the entire country, or open it in the regions where the situation is under control," Kejriwal said.

After many attempts, the Central government last week allowed the opening of hotels in Delhi, with the decision taken in a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Wednesday, he said.

Stressing that normalcy has been brought back, the Chief Minister said the reopening of the hotel industry in Delhi was a very important step in reviving the city's economy.

"We have to think about two challenges, first is how to end the spread of the pandemic, and the second is reviving the economy of Delhi because businesses have been shut down and jobs have been lost due to the pandemic," he said.

Kejriwal also thanked the hotels for supporting the government in enhancing the capacity of beds to accommodate more patients when corona was at its peak in Delhi.

Stressing that it was a common fight, he said: "We tried to bring everyone along with us in our fight against corona, be it our political rivals, opposition, or friends, we kept aside all the politics and joined hands in our efforts."