Discoms trying to blackmail govt: Kejriwal

NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday accused BSES discoms of trying to “blackmail” the government by threatening power cuts up to 10 hours a day, and warned them of strict action including possible cancellation of licenses.

The Chief Minister also said Tatas and Ambanis, who run three electricity distribution firms in Delhi, were not the only companies in the country and the government was willing to bring new players.

“There are no reasons for power cuts. I want to give them a warning that if they try to create panic in future, the government will take strict action against them,” Kejriwal said as Reliance Infra-backed BSES warned the government of 8-10 hours power cuts a day beginning tomorrow citing fund crunch.

Dismissing any valid reasons for such extreme steps, the Chief Minister said there were so many question marks over the discoms account.

“They are not cooperating in CAG audit, which raises further suspicion. The government will not keep quite. The government will not hesitate in cancelling their licences,” he said while assuring the people that there was no possibility of power cuts.

“Power companies are indulging in wrong doings to create panic they are trying to blackmail us,” he said.

Referring to a meeting called by the Chief Secretary with power companies, Kejriwal said, “We will bring other companies. There are not only two companies in the country. Companies run by Tata and Ambanis are not the only companies. There are other companies (who can distribute power in Delhi).”

Asking discoms to refrain from the “tactics” being used by the companies to put pressure on the government, Kejriwal assured citizens that no long outages will take place.

“I want to assure Delhi citizens that nothing of that sort will happen,” he said.

BSES Yamuna Power Ltd has informed the Delhi government that areas in Central and East Delhi may face eight to 10 hours of power cuts from Saturday as the company was facing serious fund crunch to buy electricity.

In a letter to Delhi’s Power Secretary Puneet Goel, BYPL sought immediate financial assistance from the government to deal with the “difficult” situation as it was not being able to make payments to various state-run power generators, including NTPC and NHPC.

“In view of non-availability of cost-reflective tariff for several years in the past, the revenue gap of BYPL has been mounting year on year. Up to financial year 2011-12, the same was recognised by the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission at Rs 2,855 crore,” it said.

The company said it no longer has the financial ability or resources to pay the generating companies in full.

The discom said banks have “withdrawn new funding support” owing to accumulated revenue arrears of Rs 6,200 crore and it was finding it difficult to arrange power for the city.

BYPL has sought immediate intervention of Delhi government in helping it overcome the situation and urged it to take up the issue urgently with NTPC, NHPC, Ministry of Power and Ministry of Finance.

The company said banks are “alarmed” by Delhi government’s “subsidy-led” approach to tariffs, regardless of actual cost of power.

The BSES Yamuna Power Ltd. and BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd, which supply power in 70 per cent areas in Delhi, owe around Rs 4,000 crore to Delhi government-run power generation and transmission companies.

Both BRPL and BYPL have been maintaining that they are going through difficult financial condition. They have been demanding significant hike in tariff, citing rise in power purchase cost. — PTI

Source Link: http://www.tribuneindia.com

Kejriwal lists 'corrupt' leaders

NEW DELHI: Targeting Rahul Gandhi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday accused him of being corrupt and said the party will field candidates against him, UPA ministers and leaders of other parties.

He also took a jibe at BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and the Congress vice-president for spending over "Rs 500 crore on branding" and image-building exercise.

Drawing up a list of "corrupt" politicians, Kejriwal said the party will field candidates against them.

The list included Gandhi, several UPA ministers, SP supremo Mulayam Singh, BSP chief Mayawati, Union Ministers P. Chidambaram and Sushilkumar Shinde and former BJP president Nitin Gadkari among others.

Addressing the National Council meeting attended by Aam Aadmi Party volunteers from across the country, Kejriwal said, "I have prepared a list of dishonest (politicians) of the country. If you come across any honest politician in the list then please tell me.

"I am asking for the country's approval on whether to defeat (these politicians) or send them to Parliament."

Kejriwal said the party will field candidates against Gandhi, Union Ministers Shinde, Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal, G.K. Vasan, Salman Khurshid, Veerappa Moily, Prakash Jaiswal, Kamal Nath, Pawan Bansal, as well as MPs Naveen Jindal, Avtar Singh Bhadana, Anu Tandon, Suresh Kalmadi and Assam CM Tarun Gogoi.

"I have started the list. Till evening, you (AAP workers) prepare a list and submit it to the party," he told AAP workers.

The Chief Minister slammed Gandhi and Modi for engaging in expensive image branding campaigns.

"They spent Rs 500 crore for image make over...To prepare brand Modi and brand Rahul, they are spending Rs 500 crore. Can these people, who spend Rs 500 crore for branding, give an honest government? After they come to power, they will recover that money from us," he said.

Kejriwal said the party's motto was not to seize power, but to eradicate corruption.

"Our motto is not to seize power and do politics for power like BJP and Congress. Our motive should be no corrupt leader and no one from dynasty politics should enter Parliament," he said. — PTI

Source Link: http://www.tribuneindia.com

Jan Lokpal Bill: Delhi Assembly to hold special session at Indira Gandhi stadium

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Cabinet on Friday decided to call a special session of Assembly to take up the Jan Lokpal Bill that seeks to punish corrupt officials on February 16 at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium instead of the historic Ramlila Ground as announced by ruling AAP earlier.

Minister Manish Sisodia said a meeting of the Cabinet has decided to call the Assembly session from February 13 to 16 and the House will sit at Indira Gandhi stadium on the last day of the session, where public will also be invited to attend.

The Aam Aadmi Party Government had earlier announced that it will convene a special session at the Ramlila Ground, the venue of Anna Hazare’s anti-graft movement, to pass the much-talked about Bill which was one of the main poll planks of the party.

Officials said the Cabinet decision on convening the Assembly session will have to be cleared by Lt Governor Najeeb Jung.

The Delhi Police had opposed government’s proposal to convene the session at the Ramlila Ground, citing security issues.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the Cabinet discussed the draft of the Jan Lokpal Bill and a final decision would be taken on Monday.

It has also been learnt that the government is mulling fixing six months as time limit to complete investigation in corruption cases.

The draft Bill, prepared by a committee headed by the Chief Secretary, has kept the Chief Minister’s office under the ambit of the Lokayukta. — PTI

Source Link: http://www.tribuneindia.com

AAP strongly condemns the nefarious attempts by a Congress MLA

Press Release

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) strongly condemns the nefarious attempts by a Congress MLA to disrupt the press conference of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday.

MLA Asif Mohammad Khan inappropriately barged into a press briefing at the Delhi Secretariat and indulged in highly objectionable behavior, which is totally unbecoming of an elected representative.

He raised the issue of Batla House encounter and the AAP would like to set the record straight. This encounter had taken place on 19 September 2008, when there were Congress governments in Delhi as well as at the Centre.

The AAP had not come into existence till then, but it was noted lawyer and human rights activist, Prashant Bhushan (now a national executive member of the AAP) who had filed a petition in the Delhi High Court seeking an independent investigation into this encounter.

The High Court asked the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to look into the matter. The NHRC accepted the probe report of the Delhi Police Crime Branch. This was again challenged by Mr Bhushan in the Supreme Court.

A three judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by the then Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan dismissed the petition seeking an independent/judicial inquiry into the encounter.

The Supreme Court ruled that no further probes were required in this matter.

Mr Asif has tried to spread a lot of falsehoods today. It is important to rebut these false allegations. Without reading the AAP manifesto, he has given statements that it promises a probe into this encounter. THERE IS NO SUCH MENTION IN THE AAP MANIFESTO.

Mr Asif needs to answer the question as to why he joined the Congress Party in August 2013 after having won the 2008 assembly election on the RJD ticket, despite the fact that Congress governments of Delhi and even the centre had termed the encounter as genuine in the High Court and the Supreme Court.

It is really beyond reasonable understanding that he chose to contest on the ticket of a party which supported the encounter and opposed any attempt to get it probed and is seeking answers from a government which believes in justice for all and discrimination against none.

Before questioning others, Mr Asif should spell out the stand of the party to which he belongs, on this issue.

The AAP makes it clear that it stands committed for justice to all sections of the society and is firmly against implication of innocents in false cases, irrespective of their religion, region or caste.

Source Link: https://www.facebook.com

After Kejriwal, High Court joins SIT chorus

Abhinav Garg,TNN

NEW DELHI: A day after Arvind Kejriwal put anti-Sikh riots cases back in spotlight by his call for an SIT, the Delhi high court also turned up the heat. While hearing the bail application and appeal of convict Balwan Khokhar, a former MLA, a division bench of Justice P K Bhasin and Justice J R Midha broadened its intervention by directing the CBI to furnish comprehensive information on progress made till now.

The bench told CBI's counsel to file a chart of total cases lodged in the anti-Sikh riots, including those that were closed by the Delhi Police for want of evidence. The court also wants to know how many have been convicted in the riots and how many cases have resulted in acquittals.

HC also interrogated the CBI on why appeals were not filed in cases where trial courts acquitted some of the accused. In response, the CBI's counsel clarified investigating agency in those cases was Delhi Police not the CBI.

HC also clubbed all appeals relating to a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case directed against Congress leader Sajjan Kumar's acquittal. "We will order requisition of all the case files. We feel that the files of all the convicted appellants be placed before us," the bench directed.

Apart from Khokhar's bail, the bench is also hearing his appeal against conviction by the trial court awarding him life imprisonment for murder. HC asked Tihar Jail superintendent to inform it on the time spent by Khokhar inside the prison, and posted the matter for hearing on March 12. Besides Khokhar, Girdhari Lal and Captain Bhagmal were also awarded life imprisonment for the offence of murder. While Mahender Yadav and Kishan Khokkar were convicted only for the offence of rioting in a case where Sajjan Kumar, a former MP from Outer Delhi parliamentary seat, was acquitted for want of evidence.

Source Link: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Giving the AAP a fair chance

GARGI PARSAI

If the AAP experiment fails then the people will be back to being reduced to fixed deposits in ‘vote banks’ of established parties

It is a convention in Parliament that when a new member makes a debut speech, fellow members greet him or her with a thumping of desks. Normally the person is heard out without interruptions even if it is a hotly debated issue. The Chair is also indulgent even if the member exceeds the time limit. It’s the same for first-time ministers. They are not pounced upon for fumbling or giving inadequate replies. This camaraderie is also visible when contentious Bills are taken up and which the Opposition helps the government pass, sometimes without discussion.

But the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is learning along the way after forming a minority government in Delhi, is not being given the same chance that the political class would give to “one of its own.” Even those who were indulgent of JP taking the support of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh to defeat a “corrupt and autocratic” Indira Gandhi and of V.P. Singh who sought the help of all including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the wake of the Bofors scandal, are not willing to give space to the new “alternative politics” that the AAP stands for.

Capturing voter imagination

It is grossly unfair that while every government gets five years to implement its manifesto, the AAP government is expected to fulfil its within the first month. Even so, the party has taken crucial decisions on water and power tariffs to give relief to law-abiding citizens; 700 litres of free water per day is being given as a “right” and is on metered usage to encourage people to get meters. Those who exceed the limit (of water conservation) will have to pay for the entire use. Likewise, the decision to reduce the power tariff by half — up to 400 units of usage per month — only restores the balance. Citizens’ cries over abnormally inflated electricity bills generated by private service providers went unheard by Sheila Dikshit’s government. For a housewife, the average saving of Rs.8,000 to Rs.10,000 per month alone on these counts helps take some of the sting out of galloping inflation.

Nursery admission guidelines for private schools as well as the CAG audit of power companies have been upheld by the Delhi High Court indicating that the AAP government’s decisions are solid enough to stand judicial scrutiny. Grievance redress helplines are working, genuine and effective.

The AAP has compelled the so-called mainstream parties to take note of its novel ideas. They are aping it not because they believe in its ideas but because they feel the AAP has caught the imagination of voters with its approach to tackling the menace of corruption and to participatory democracy. That is why the Congress has suddenly gone silent on its “game changer” Food Security Act, and thrust the anti-corruption placard into the hands of Rahul Gandhi. After admitting that the 128 year-old party had much to learn from just-born AAP, Mr. Gandhi recently announced that the party will invite in 15 Lok Sabha constituencies applications from common people to contest on a party ticket — a methodology initiated by the AAP.

The BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi too is now harping on ridding India of corruption.

There can be no two opinions about the overzealous manner in which Delhi’s Law Minister Somnath Bharti took up the case of flesh trade and drug trafficking in his constituency. Even if one overlooks the manner in which policemen on the spot showed hostility to the Minister, Mr. Bharti could have done it differently and at a decent hour without hurting the dignity of the women under suspicion. Neither can one absolve “poet” Kumar Vishwas of his sexist comments. Both need to be reined in. But for agitated women groups to say that it is because of these two men that the entire party needs to be condemned is playing into the hands of those threatened by the AAP’s growing appeal ahead of the general election.

When Mr. Arvind Kejriwal worked on his goal to empower the aam aadmi he perhaps did not contend with the potpourri that would form the fundamentals of his party. So, if you have a Kumar Vishwas and a Somnath Bharti, there are others like a Yogendra Yadav who has been apologetic upfront about inherent contradictions in his political entity. When asked in an interview about people with divergent views such as social activist Medha Patkar and Captain Gopinath of Air Deccan backing the party, Mr. Kejriwal’s answer was simple — “This is the diversity of our country.” In that sense, the party’s initiative towards participatory democracy on the basis of continuous dialogue with common citizens is refreshing.

Open-door politics

With its origins in Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement, the AAP does not shy away from projecting itself as a party in movement mode. Indeed, it is different as a party — not distant, not structured and certainly not white-collared. Those who see politics largely through the prism of a “status quo mindset” and are more comfortable in a “high command” or single leader party structure will perhaps find it difficult to accept the AAP’s open-door politics in which every person counts irrespective of caste, religion, and standing.

In effect, the AAP was truly inclusive when it selected ordinary people, those with no political clout or background, to become MLAs and ministers. With no VVIP paraphernalia — red beacon-light cars, gun-totting security personnel, battery of briefcase-carrying assistants, or the experience — they do not look like nor behave like a conventional VIP.

We have had chief ministers sitting on fasts and organising bandhs, but for the first time the nation saw a chief minister sleeping on a roadside on a chilly Delhi winter night literally metres away from Parliament. He is by no yardstick “mad” as Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has called him, but, yes, he certainly has the junoon (passion) to force a change in the political system, say his colleagues. And, yes, the change is beginning: Mr. Shinde’s home State, Maharashtra, and another Congress-ruled state, Haryana, have copied Mr. Kejriwal’s decision to reduce power tariffs. Likewise, the BJP-ruled Rajasthan and the Samajwadi Party-ruled Uttar Pradesh have cut down on security for their chief ministers. In Delhi, the police harassing petty shopkeepers, street vendors, three-wheelers, every passing truck etc. is no longer a common sight.

Mr. Kejriwal’s dharna a few yards away from the Union Home Minister’s office was as much against the Central government usurping the powers of the elected government in Delhi, as it was a flashpoint with the Delhi Police seemingly triggered by action against two police constables on charges of corruption. Mr. Kejriwal has realised that without control over the police, his government cannot deliver on its promise of ensuring the safety and security of women. The fight, therefore, appeared more to draw attention to the situation with regard to the police than to anything else. Otherwise, the AAP is the only party which has set up — much before the Bharti episode — a five-member committee on the Vishaka guidelines to look into complaints by women of harassment. The party has a 30-member gender committee headed by Lalita Ramdas, wife of Admiral Ramdas. The only three women MLAs in the Delhi Assembly belong to the AAP party.

With anti-corruption as its plank, the AAP leadership will have to brace itself for even more testing times in the run-up to the general election. Not only will it have to fend off attempts to bog it down politically, it will also have to hold its own against various lobbies, interest groups, mafias, middlemen and even media barons. To its advantage, however, the ordinary people, to whom it has given a voice and primacy, do realise that if this experiment fails then it will be back to their being reduced to fixed deposits of parties in “vote banks” to be renewed once in five years.

Source Link: http://www.thehindu.com

SC refuses to stay order on nursery admission process

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay the interim order on the nursery admission process in the national Capital but asked the Delhi High Court to expeditiously hear the pleas against the guidelines by advancing the scheduled hearing.

A Bench headed by Justice H.L. Dattu said since the order of the high court was in the nature of an interim order, it was not interfering with it and asked the high court to hear the issues raised as expeditiously as possible in the interest of schools and welfare of children.

The apex court gave liberty to the petitioners, Action Committee of Unaided Recognised Private Schools, Forum for Promotion of Quality Education for All and some parents to make an application before the single judge of the high court for advancing the March 11 hearing.

"Since the interim order is in the nature of refusal to grant interim relief, we also do not intend to interfere with that order. Therefore, we reject the special leave petition.

"We request the single judge of the high court to consider and make all endeavour as expeditiously as possible the hear the petitions in the interest of the schools and welfare of the children," the Bench comprising S.A. Bobde said.

While giving liberty to the aggrieved parties to make an application before the single judge for advancement of March 11 hearing, the Bench said "if such application is made, the single judge is requested to consider the plea and expedite the hearing".

Disposing the appeals against the high court's order, the Bench made it clear that it is not expressing any opinion on the merits of the matter.

The apex court agreed with the pleas of — Action Committee of Unaided Recognised Private Schools and Forum for Promotion of Quality Education for All — raising objections to a paragraph in the division bench's verdict and expunged those lines from the judgement.

The Division Bench of the high court has confirmed the order passed by the single judge which had refused to stay the December 18, 2013 guidelines of the Lieutenant Governor. — PTI

Source Link: http://www.tribuneindia.com

Delhi Chief Minister's Press Conference: 30th January, 2014

Speaking at the press conference, Kejriwal, whose government completed one month in power, said controversies surrounding the AAP dispensation never affected its functioning and asserted that his team did a good job in addressing various challenges facing the city.

The Chief Minister claimed his government has done far more work for the people in the first month than its predecessors and said rooting out corruption, ensuring security to women and enhancing water distribution network were among his top priorities.

“Your surveys have shown... it is clear people are happy with the performance,” he said, adding a number of key decisions have been taken to help the common man like providing 20 kilo litres of free water per month to each household besides providing power subsidy to a large section of consumers.

On his government’s decision for an investigation by a Special Investigation Team into the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, he said a thorough probe was required as demanded by the Sikh community.

On corruption, Kejriwal said his government will come down hard on corrupt officials but at the same time will protect the honest officers. “We are considering ways to protect the honest officers,” he said without elaborating.

Kejriwal said the Delhi Janlokpal Bill will most probably come before his Cabinet on Friday and the Assembly is likely to meet in a fortnight for its passage.

“Our aim is to provide a corruption-free government.

(Fighting) Corruption is very important for us. I have visited various offices and people said now their work is getting done without bribing,” he said and referred to the anti-graft helpline launched earlier this month.

The Chief Minister noted that AAP government had taken the initiative to end the VIP culture in city.

The Kejriwal government’s one month saw several controversies, including over the CM’s choice of house, the chaos at his public hearing or Janata Darbar and the conduct of his Ministers especially Law Minister Somnath Bharti who raised hackles with his plan to call a meeting of High Court judges and later by leading a midnight raid against African nationals.

The Chief Minister said the ‘nursery helpline’ launched by the education department has also been “very helpful” to parents.

He said the government has mapped all its schools across the city to check their infrastructure requirement and follow-up action was being taken.

The Chief Minister asked agitating contractual employees, including DTC workers and guest teachers who have been sitting on dharna demanding regularisation of their services, to end their strike immediately.

He said the government was in the process of regularising their services and if they do not end their protest, the government would recruit new employees.

The government has already appointed a high-level committee to recommend policy guidelines to regularise services of contractual employees.

“If the striking employees don’t come back to work, we will not consider them for regularisation. We can’t afford to have 600 DTC buses off the roads,” Kejriwal said.

On women’s security, he said a committee has been formed to suggest measures to enhance women security. He said the government was working on setting up a women security force but clarified that it would not be a parallel police force.

He said enhancing water distribution network in the city was one of his major priority.

Kejriwal said the third party power meter testing will be carried out across the city.

He said 58 night shelters were being set up to provide shelters to homeless people.

Source Link: http://www.tribuneindia.com

Cong MLA disrupts Kejriwal’s press meet, demands SIT probe into Batla encounter

NEW DELHI: A press conference by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was on Thursday disrupted by a Congress MLA demanding appointment of a Special Investigation Team to probe the 2008 Batla House encounter.

Asif Mohammed Khan, MLA from Okhla constituency, barged into the press conference at Delhi Secretariat and started shouting slogans against AAP after Kejriwal, in reply to a question, said that the Delhi Government would not form an SIT to investigate the encounter.

Kejriwal said a court has already given its verdict in the case and the government respected the judicial process.

“A court has already given its verdict in the case and we respect the court order. We are not appointing any SIT into the case,” the Delhi Chief Minister said.

Almost immediately after Kejriwal’s remark, Khan barged into the venue of the press conference and started shouting slogans. The Chief Minister’s security tried to stop Khan but he kept shouting.

The Delhi Government had on Wednesday decided on a probe by an SIT into the 1984 anti-Sikh riots here, two days after Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said some of the partymen were probably involved in the violence but were punished.

Khan said he will not extend support to the AAP government in any legislative business and does not care if the Congress takes disciplinary action against him.

Last year, a trial court had convicted suspected Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorist Shahzad Ahmed in the Batla House encounter case and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

Read more....

Source Link: http://www.tribuneindia.com

Congress MLA disrupts Kejriwal's press meet, demands SIT probe into Batla House encounter

NEW DELHI: Congress legislator Asif Muhammad Khan on Thursday disrupted Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's press conference and demanded a probe into the Batla House encounter case.

Khan, a legislator from Okhla, said that Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal despite promising a special investigating team (SIT) probe into the case is now refusing to do so.

"He (Kejriwal) had promised the people of Okhla that he will probe the Batla House encounter case, and had even distributed handbills saying the same," said Khan, adding that Kejriwal is now backtracking from his promise.

"I will vote against the AAP government in the assembly, even if Congress expels me from the party," MLA Asif Mohammad Khan said.

Arvind Kejriwal was addressing the media on completion of the one-month of the AAP government in Delhi.

Kejriwal said that corruption has come down during the one-month rule of the AAP government and they are trying to end VIP culture in Delhi.

"An interesting campaign was launched to tackle corruption. I do not have a scientific study to show corruption has been reduced but there are individual incidents where people have come and told me that money is not being asked," said Kejriwal at a press conference.

"I had sent the volunteers five days ago to different departments and it is their observation that in most department corruption has been reduced but in VAT the same system is in progress," added Kejriwal.

He went on to say that "there is a sense of fear which is necessary so we are encouraging that some independent organisation does a survey and checks what amount of change in corruption has been made".

On Lokpal Bill, Kejriwal said: "The Delhi Lokpal Bill will be introduced in the cabinet on Friday and in 10-15 days there might be an assembly session and there it will be passed."
(With inputs from IANS)

Source Link: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

1984 riots: AAP, Akali Dal demand SIT probe

NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party as well as the Akali Dal on Wednesday demanded a SIT probe into the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi, after Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi admitted some party members' involvement in the violence.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal met Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung on Wednesday morning to submit his request demanding a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe.

"The meeting went on for around half an hour. The LG has ensured that his request would be considered and the Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh) will be informed," an official said.

Akali Dal Delhi president Manjit Singh G.K. told reporters that now that Rahul Gandhi has acknowledged the role of Congress leaders in the riots, he should take action against them too.

"We don't want an apology but action against the culprits in the 1984 riots. We demand a SIT probe," Singh said, adding that an agitation would be organised outside the Congress party's headquarters at 24 Akbar Road on Thursday morning. — IANS

Source Link: http://www.tribuneindia.com

AAP leaders not providing info on party funding: Centre to HC

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Wednesday told the Delhi High Court that AAP leaders, including Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, have not provided the information sought by them on the funding received by the party.

"We have asked for certain details from them regarding bank accounts and other information vide our letter dated November 4, 2013. We had also sent another letter to them. But there is no answer," Additional Solicitor General Rajeeve Mehra, appearing for the Ministry of Home Affairs, told the court.

Meanwhile, a Bench headed by Justice Pradeep Nandrajog asked petitioner advocate M. L. Sharma to also implead AAP as one of the respondents in the PIL filed by him seeking lodging of a criminal case against founding members of the party, including Kejriwal, for allegedly receiving foreign funds in violation of law.

"AAP is a registered political party. Why you have not made them a party? File an amended memo of parties by next date of hearing, i.e., February 5," the Bench said.

Besides Kejriwal, the petitioner has made AAP leaders Manish Sisodia, Shanti Bhushan and Prashant Bhushan as party in his PIL.

The high court had earlier asked the Centre to look into "afresh" the accounts of AAP to find out the source of money received by it after its inception.

The order had come after the Centre had filed a report in which it had said that an evaluation of the accounts of civil society of Team Anna was done in 2012 and a report was filed before another bench of the high court last year in a similar PIL filed by the petitioner earlier.

The Centre had earlier submitted before the court that the issue raised by the petitioner in his PIL has already been investigated and a report was prepared on the issues earlier by the government.

Sharma, in his plea, had cited some names, including that of Kejriwal, and sought that "a direction be issued to register a criminal case against the respondents (AAP members) under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) and to conduct day-to-day trial proceedings under court supervision in the interest of justice." — PTI

Source Link: http://www.tribuneindia.com

HC notices to Kejriwal, Bharti on pleas of BJP leaders

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court today issued notices to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Law Minister Somnath Bharti on separate pleas of two BJP leaders seeking to declare their election as void on the ground that they exceeded the poll expense limit of Rs 14 lakh each.

A bench of justice Vipin Sanghi sought the response from Kejriwal on the election petition of former Delhi BJP president Vijender Gupta, who had unsuccessfully fought the Assembly election against Kejriwal from New Delhi constituency.

Another bench of justice G S Sistani issued notice to the law minister on the plea of BJP leader and former Delhi mayor Arti Mehra, who alleged that Bharti did not comply with the provisions of the Representation of People Act (RP Act) and had spent more than Rs 14 lakh during his election campaign in the Malviya Nagar Assembly seat.

The courts, which did not issue notice to the Election Commission, asked the Aam Aadmi Party leaders to file their responses within four weeks and fixed the matters for hearing on February 25.

During the hearing, Satyapal Jain and Rajeev Ranjan Raj, appearing for BJP leaders, cited various related provisions of the RPAct to stress on the point that the AAP leaders did not give correct and separate accounts of expenses incurred by them during the election campaign.

The BJP leaders have said in their petition that Kejriwal and Bharti had indulged in corrupt practices and incurred huge expenditure of nearly Rs 94.80 lakh during campaigning by organising a rock show "Jeet Ki Gunj, Vote for Change" on November 23, 2013 at Jantar Mantar, after filing their poll nomination.

"...The total actual expenses incurred by the Aam Admi Party on the account of concert is Rs 94.80 lakh which has been highly underestimated by the respondent (Kejriwal) and the Aam Admi Party as Rs. 14.72 lakh," the petitions said.

Similar allegations have been made by Mehra against Bharti. "Kejriwal has influenced/solicited the voters by such a massive concert, thereby affecting the outcome of the election," the petitions allege.

It accused both the AAP leaders of having violated the Model Code of Conduct issued by the Election Commission of India, the provisions of the RP Act and also the principles of the Constitution regarding free and fair elections.

The petition said many prominent singers and Bollywood personalities performed at the event and all of them charged Rs 3 lakh to Rs 10 lakh, which was allegedly paid by Kejriwal.

The petitions also said that the concert was advertised through newspapers, TV and radio to attract voters. Elaborate arrangements were put in place and the programme was attended by more than 20,000 people and the total cost of the show/concert will not come to be less than Rs one crore.

Gupta said "the show was addressed and attended by Kejriwal and three other AAP candidates namely Somnath Bharti from Malviya Nagar constituency, Surinder Singh from Delhi Cantt constituency and Manish Sisodia from Patparganj, who was also a star campaigner. In that event, Rs 33 lakh has to be added in the expenses account" of Kejriwal.

He said the Election Commission has a video recording of the event but the same is yet to be provided to him.

The petitions said that on their complaint, an inquiry was initiated by the Election Commission and the District Expenditure Monitoring Committee "erroneously apportioned" an expenditure of Rs 13.05 lakh in the account of Kejriwal, Bharti and Surinder Singh.

They said that the assessment arrived at by the Commission treating the concert as "good cause" was "erroneous" and no independent information was used to evaluate the exact amount.

"....The stand of Kejriwal and AAP that the artists/ celebrities have not charged for performing in the concert for being associated with the party is factually wrong and, hence, not acceptable as per the guidelines of the Election Commission.

"If such explanation is accepted, then every candidate will organise such similar events in the name of "good cause" to influence/target voters and will get away by breaching the monetary ceiling imposed by the Election Commission for conducting free and fair elections of candidates," the petitions said.

Kejriwal had secured 44,269 votes while Sheila Dikshit and Vijender Kumar secured only 18,405 and 17,952 votes respectively.

Bharti had won from Malviya Nagar with 32,258 votes, defeating Mehra who had garnered 24,486 votes - PTI

Source Link: http://www.tribuneindia.com

AAP flavour in World Economic Forum at Davos

The Aam Aadmi Party and talks about next Lok Sabha elections seem to be hogging the limelight when it comes to discussions around India at the World Economic Forum's annual talk-fest of the rich and famous from across the globe.

While not many are willing to go on record with their take on 'India's newest political phenomenon' -- Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party -- and its potential impact on the upcoming general elections, almost every foreign leader is quizzing their Indian counterparts about these issues.

Some Indian leaders have dismissed AAP's emergence calling it a Delhi-centric development and saying such authoritarian and mob-based politics has no place in the Indian democracy.

Still, they admit that AAP has caught the imagination of people in India and it cannot be wished away as it is making the right noises about the need to improve governance.

While trying to convince foreign investors about the continuity of the Indian growth story, the Indian leaders are also facing tough questions here about the widespread anticipation that the next elections could throw a fractured mandate, said many participants at the WEF.

According to them, AAP's emergence on the political scene has further added to the uncertainty about the outcome of Lok Sabha polls and corporates have begun looking into the possibility of engaging with this new political force.

An Indian-origin chief of a large global conglomerate said he was so impressed with speeches made by Kejriwal that he called him up from overseas and expressed his desire to meet him on his next visit to Delhi.

While seriously wanting to engage with this new phenomenon, the businessman said he could not pursue the same as it would have attracted unnecessary publicity about being aligned with one particular political force that is currently in the eye of storm of every other party.

Industry body CII's Director General Chandrajit Banerjee said the political scenario is always very important for the economic policies of a country and therefore general elections are definitely a crucial issue.

"As far as AAP is concerned, it is too early to make a judgement, although emergence of this party has definitely been a curtain raiser sort of thing for everybody," he said, while adding that the CII is also looking at engaging with AAP like it has done with all other political parties.

He admitted that the emergence of AAP has brought to the fore one clear theme -- about governance and accountability of the government.

"This could be a big game changer and anybody who comes to power would have to focus a lot on governance and ensure that there is accountability on their part," Banerjee said.

IT major Tech Mahindra's Vice Chairman Vineet Nayyar said political elections are always an issue and they create their own anticipations.

"The world cannot be indifferent when one-seventh of the world is going to get a new government. Obviously there is an interest (among foreign leaders here) in Indian elections, because India is very important on the global economic platform," he said.

Global rights group Amnesty International's Secretary General Salil Shetty said the emergence of AAP has shown that people "do not accept nonsense anymore" and similar trends are being seen in Brazil, Russia and many other places.

"Accountability to the population has to be there. AAP emergence has at least created a scare among the political leadership that you have to be accountable," he said.

Bharti Group Chairman Sunil Mittal said that AAP is an expression of people's thinking.

"I am a keen political observer. For me, AAP is nothing but an expression of people's thinking....

"It will be one of the most difficult elections to predict, but it will be one of the most interesting elections," he said while participating in a session on India here yesterday.

During the session, Finance Minister P Chidambaram had said that AAP should quit if they don't know how to govern.

"That (holding two-day long dharna on Delhi streets) is not governance. That is abdicating governance. If you don't know how to govern, quit," he had said.

On why the Congress party was continuing to support the minority AAP government in Delhi, Chidambaram had said, "Opinion in the party was divided. Local unit took that decision, right or wrong. The point is whoever is in government, must govern".

* "You can't mask your inability to govern by street agitations. The line that divides agitation and anarchy is a very thin line and they may have crossed that line in the last few days," he said.

Source Link: http://indiatoday.intoday.in

Binny calls off dharna after 4 hours, gives more time to AAP govt

NEW DELHI: Expelled AAP MLA Vinod Kumar Binny today called off his dharna against the Arvind Kejriwal government after just four hours but threatened to launch a major stir if his demands, including passage of the Janlokpal bill, are not met in 10 days.

A day after he was thrown out of the Aam Admi Party, the rebel MLA said he will continue support to the government on "public-related" issues and was withdrawing his stir for now as Lt Governor Najeeb Jung and Anna Hazare had suggested that "some days" should be given to the AAP government to fulfil promises made by it during the Delhi Assembly elections.

"If Kejriwal government fails to bring Anna's Janlokpal Bill in the given time, I would begin protest across the country," Binny told reporters at Jantar Mantar here.

He also demanded immediate setting up of 'Mahila Surksha Dal' and 700 litres of free water to residents along with reduction in electricity bills by upto half as Kejriwal promised during election.

"If AAP government fails to meet these three demands in the next ten days, I will begin country-wide agitation from February 6 next month," he said.

"I am not withdrawing my support from the AAP-led government. I am giving support to the government on the public-related issues," he added.

The MLA began his protest at Jantar Mantar at noon and called it off nearly four hours later.

Asked why he was withdrawing his dharna on the first day, Binny told reporters that the LG and Anna Hazare had suggested to him that "some days should be given to the AAP-led government so that he (Kejriwal) could work on public-related issues".

"Women security is the first priority of mine. Before forming the government, Kejriwal had said that he would form 'Mahila Suraksha Dal' to ensure women security in the Delhi, but he is running away from this promise," Binny alleged.

Earlier, launching a blistering attack on AAP, he accused Kejriwal of acting like a dictator. He met the Delhi Lt Governor to take up issues which have not been addressed by the Kejriwal government and demanded action against controversial Law Minister Somnath Bharti. — PTI

Source Link: http://www.tribuneindia.com

No govt has achieved what AAP has in a month, says Kejriwal

NEW DELHI: Reacting to former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Vinod Kumar Binny's comment about the party, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said they did not need to play politics to save the government, and that none of the governments have done as much work as their government has done in one month.

"We do not have to do the politics of saving the government and let him do what he has to," said Kejriwal.

"None of the governments have done as much work as our government has done in one month," he said.

He further said that he was aware that Delhi was still not safe for women.

"There are many challenges that we need to address to in the Capital right now, and I have already said it that Delhi is not secure, especially for women," he said.

Binny was expelled from AAP for making false statements against the party on Sunday, and he had threatened a dharna against Arvind Kejriwal. — ANI

Source Link: http://www.tribuneindia.com

Expelled AAP MLA meets LG to demand action against Bharti

NEW DELHI: Hitting out at AAP for not working on its promises, expelled MLA Vinod Kumar Binny today met the Delhi Lt Governor to take up issues which he claimed have not been addressed by the Kejriwal government and demand action against controversial Law Minister Somnath Bharti.

The Lakshmi Nagar MLA also claimed that the decision to expel him was taken to gag other dissatisfied party MLAs.

Binny after meeting Lt Governor Najeeb Jung said he has been given an assurance that law will take its own course.

"We demanded that action be taken in the Somnath-African woman case. The Law Minister assaulted and misbehaved with African women during the midnight raid. The LG has assured me that law is equal for everyone and let law take its course," he told reporters after meeting the LG.

Binny, who is set to hold a dharna against the AAP government at Jantar Mantar, claimed that "the decision to expel me was taken to gag other party MLAs dissatisfied by the party leadership."

Asked about Binny's claims that some other MLAs were disgruntled with the party, Kejriwal said, "Who is here to save the government, we are here to work for the people."

Accusing the Delhi government of mocking constitutional bodies like the Women's Commission, Binny said AAP wants that its government falls as they now want to save themselves from all those "false promises" which they had made.

"But I will not let them run away," Binny said, adding he has not received any letter from AAP and got to know about his expulsion only from the media.

Lashing out at the AAP government, he said, "The party which was formed to fight corruption and had called Sheila Dikshit and other leaders corrupt has not even initiated a probe against them."

"Delhi has broken its record in regard to cases of violence against women, and still women commando force promised by AAP has not been formed. They are playing with the lives of sisters and daughters," he said.

The AAP government has also not fulfilled the promise to make permanent jobs of contractual employees, Binny said, adding these people have been sitting on a dharna for that last few days but the Chief Minister has not met them.

However, the MLA said he would support Aam Aadmi Party on public-related issues.

"I will support AAP-led government on the Janlokpal Bill," he said.

Asked how he would now support AAP, Binny said, "I was with them on public issues. I will continue to work for the welfare of the people".

Asked if he was going to join BJP or Congress, he said he was "not going to join either BJP or Congress as I am against their politics".

Before staging a dharna at Jantar Mantar against the Kejriwal-led government, the MLA paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat.

Binny was expelled from the party last night following a decision by the AAP's Disciplinary Committee.

"This Disciplinary Committee has decided to expel Vinod Kumar Binny and terminate his primary membership from the party, for publicly making false statements against the party and its leadership, thereby bringing disrepute to the party," the party said in a statement.

Ten days ago Binny had called Kejriwal a "dictator" and accused the party of "betraying" the people of Delhi by backtracking on its election promises.

Binny had announced that he will sit on a dharna at Jantar Mantar if the party fails to fulfil the promises made to people by January 27. — PTI

Source Link: http://www.tribuneindia.com

Is guerilla warfare a perfect descriptor of AAP's political battle?

Rajiv Singh, ET Bureau

What happened when David took on Goliath? According to legend, David won. Okay, now what happens when a David takes on two Goliaths? David still manages to win, at least in the world of Indian politics. Ask Arvind Kejriwal, the new 'guerilla' in India's political jungle.

While much has been made about Aam Aadmi Party's remarkable transformation from political underdogs to the party currently ruling Delhi, marketing experts believe it's a great example of guerrilla marketing applied to the political milieu.

"We are fighters and a group of guerrillas," proclaims Dilip Pandey, party spokesperson and secretary, AAP. "We played their game, but with our rules." The politics may have been conventional but the approach was not.

Guerilla warfare seems a perfect descriptor of AAP's political battle, says Smitha Sarma Ranganathan, a brand communication specialist who teaches marketing management at International Business School (IBS), Bengaluru. "Its game plan to ambush opponents in their own territory is a combination of sharp strategy and smart tactics, both hallmarks of guerrilla warfare."

Prasoon Joshi, executive chairman, CEO & chief creative officer of McCann Worldgroup India considers this an example of the brand's message being in sync with its actions: "AAP was bang on target in consistency of its branding. They made a focused attempt, had a defined task, and put the elements of symbolism and branding perfectly in place."

According to the bestseller Marketing Warfare by Al Ries and Jack Trout, guerilla opportunities arise when a large company discontinues a product, thereby leaving a gap which a nimbler rival can exploit. This is exactly what happened in Delhi.

Two large political outfits — the Congress and BJP — discontinued their product ie quality governance. While the ruling party failed to deliver on its promises, the main opposition party frittered away an opportunity to win over the people. The gap was there and AAP capitalised by acting swiftly.

"The arrogance of the ruling class, thinking that it had a legitimate right to rule, and the arrogance of the opposition party of being a fighter did them in," says Abraham Koshy, professor of marketing at IIM Ahmedabad."

Tactically, AAP used all the three principles of guerilla warfare as listed by Ries and Trout: Identify a segment small enough to defend, never act like the leader and even if successful in the guerilla attack, be ready to enter or exit on short notice.

AAP identified a segment to test the political waters ie New Delhi, and came up with a very interesting value proposition: zero tolerance to corruption.

Both the main political outfits in Delhi had lack of clarity and no value proposition for the buyers (voters), says Koshy. "Consumers don't buy an iron just because it heats up.

The product has to offer something specific and obviously it has to be differentiated." AAP went to the basics, adds Koshy. "They said we won't be corrupt and it struck a chord with the audience." And this was communicated across every touch-point.

Guerilla marketing typically targets a specific demographic segment. And again AAP did that. It came up with separate manifestos for each electoral constituency in Delhi — something that no political party ever did. So, their customised manifestos had something for everybody, rather than the one-size-fits-all approach.

The electoral manifesto carpet reached both the masses and the classes, says Ranganathan of IBS Bengaluru. "Piggy backing on auto rickshaws, the message was driven home to every aam aadmi." The vision of a corruption-free India resonated to distant shores via social media platforms, she adds.

AAP never acted like the leader — the second main principle of guerilla marketing. In fact, they started from a position of weakness. Koshy of IIM-A says, "It always sent this message that 'I am trying hard and learning because I am not the leader.'"

However, political analysts feel that drawing similarities between marketing a product and a political message is superficial.

"They did use non-conventional techniques," admits political commentator Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, "and demonstrated that it's possible to run a political party based on voluntary donations from large number of people." But politics is not a product, he adds.

What AAP has done may be classic case of guerilla marketing, but marketing experts sound a word of caution. "Their talk of contesting 400 seats bothers me," says Arvind Sahay, professor of marketing and international business, IIM Ahmedabad. Guerilla marketing is a take from warfare, where you are fighting and scooting, and this is possible because of a nimble and small army, he explains.

Replicating Delhi across the country would have its share of limitations as they would fritter away the advantage and won't be able to concentrate on their resources. "I would be happy if they contest 100 and win 60 seats rather than contest 300 and win 30."

Source Link: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com

Who will speak for Neha Yadav?

By Shivam Vij

Few of Delhi’s journalists will know where Sagarpur in West Delhi is, but they do know where Khirki village is (in the heart of elite South Delhi, next to a mall, and famous for a fancy art studio).

This past week, they have gone on and on about Khirki for good reasons, but ignored Indira Park. In both places, the new Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi tried to prove a point. It blundered in Khirki, so the media has gone after it. Black and white narratives demand ignoring the other side of the story. For the media, the AAP can be either heroic or evil. Complexity is bad for target rating points (TRPs).

But Neha Yadav would be grateful to the AAP, even as she lies in Safdarjung Hospital with 45 per cent burns. Her six-year-old son wakes up remembering the horror of seeing his mother being set on fire by her in-laws. The burns on her neck, chest and waist are so severe that she may not survive. Even after 11 years of marriage, she was being harassed for dowry; the real reason being that they wanted her to leave the house and divorce the husband so he could marry someone else. The local police knew about this case because neighbours had told them of the continuing torture and harassment of Neha Yadav. And yet, when Neha Yadav was set ablaze, the police was so lax that it let the in-laws flee (for, some allege, a bribe).

This is nothing extraordinary for policing by South Asian standards, except that in another place, the protesting neighbours and Neha Yadav’s parents could have gone to the local legislator and the chief minister, or just the local representative of the ruling party and put pressure on the police. Except that in Delhi, the ruling party does not control the police. The Delhi chief minister (CM) is India’s only CM who does not control the police. The Delhi police reports to the Ministry of Home Affairs. Since Delhi is the capital and Delhi police has to guard the embassies and ensure Barack Obama’s security when he comes, Neha Yadav must suffer police apathy. That is the argument the Congress party’s pathetic Sushilkumar Shinde has made.

India’s feminist movement has a long history of struggle against bride burning, but that didn’t help Neha Yadav. I don’t see any of Delhi’s feisty feminists protest or express outrage for Neha Yadav, let alone the insensitive TRP-hungry media. That’s because they have all decided that the AAP is evil, and the evil party intervened in the Neha Yadav case and made sure the police was forced to find the absconding in-laws.

Another intervention the AAP government made in Khirki village was to ask the police to nab African migrants indulging in trading drugs and prostitution. Laws against narcotics and trafficking of women do not require a warrant, yet it has been falsely said that the AAP was asking the Delhi police to conduct raids without warrants. But the AAP’s law minister did say racist things against Africans, and this is indeed a case of the AAP pandering to local racist sentiment against Africans, and it does show dangers of ‘giving power to the people’. It is great pressure from the media and activists that is making the AAP rethink the dangers of eulogising ‘the people’ as though the people can’t be wrong.

But even so, does the AAP not deserve credit for thinking about Neha Yadav, and for generally showing up Delhi police’s apathy to citizens, and making the point that the police force of a city of 16 million people should be answerable to its citizens and not to the central government? Ah, no. That would be giving the AAP too much credit.

The pro-establishment media and intellectuals are too uncomfortable with the AAP changing the old order. The old elite are unhappy their powers are going away. Obviously, the home ministry does not want to lose control of the Delhi police. Who wants to give up any powers? So let us find a stick or two to beat the AAP with, until we discredit it enough that nobody wants the home ministry to let the Delhi police be accountable to Delhi’s residents.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 24th, 2014.

Source Link: http://tribune.com.pk/

Who’s afraid of Arvind Kejriwal?

CL Manoj

At the end of every political stand-off, there are always hair-splitting arguments about the exact nature of the victory, defeat or truce. That is now playing out after the central government and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leadership came to a truce that led to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal calling off his two day-old dharna.

During the dharna, there was verbal sparring between AAP and Congress, making it clear that the latter’s outside support to Kejriwal’s government in Delhi would not dilute the political antagonism between the two. That is not a surprise: AAP has grown by targeting the Congress, the UPA and the erstwhile Sheila Dikshit regime. Now there’s a more interesting show on the sidelines.

This time, the most vicious criticism of Team Kejriwal came from those players and parties that have provided them moral, intellectual and physical support right from the day when it launched Anna Hazare as the face of an anti-corruption movement against the UPA regime.

Blind Support, Well, Sort of

The Anna-Kejriwal agitations dented the Congress-led regime, since other Opposition parties were incapable of leading a credible agitation. Therefore, these players and parties rallied behind Kejriwal, till something unnerved them. We will come to that tale later.

But there is a microscopic minority of political activists, economists and intellectuals who — despite their anger with the Congress and UPA on a variety of accounts — remained critical of Anna’s and Kejriwal’s philosophy and vision. These critics have been consistent about Kejriwal.

But not the chameleons who have turned against Kejriwal only now. The same characters who perched on the makeshift TV stands at Jantar Mantar to say they were blessed to witness such a “spontaneous, popular and revolutionary uprising”, now line up to heap invectives on the AAP. The same anti-Congress Opposition parties and outfits who provided support for the Jantar Mantar and Ramlila Maidan dharnas are now attacking the AAP. The same business interests who fuelled the earlier dharnasare now targeting the AAP.

Your Disconnect is Showing

We hear these neo-critics telling Kejriwal that his agitation methods, after becoming chief minister, are bad politics. Really? The way Kejriwal made AAP the most successful anti-Congress political outfit in one year flat, through unconventional methods also shows how politically impotent, unimaginative and disconnected other Opposition parties are.

Since the AAP understood the mind of the middle class, youth and the poor better than others, what credentials do his neo-critics have to say that AAP is losing its support base? The same people say that when Kejriwal asked police not to obey the orders of their officers, he was being anti-constitutional. But these people were recently waxing romantic about Jayaprakash Narayan’s call to the army and police to revolt against the Indira Gandhi regime in the 1970s.

The AAP’s new critics say that its street protests ahead of Republic Day disrespect the Constitution. But the same people had hailed L K Advani’s Rath Yatra to Ayodhya as “the biggest mass mobilisation after the Mahatma’s freedom movement.”

You may disagree with many things that Team Kejriwal is doing, but you can’t accuse them, yet, of double standards. Here’s what Kejriwal told ET on April 12, 2013, when he announced AAP’s plans to contest Delhi polls, “We will force the power companies to face audits and if malpractices are found, their contracts will be cancelled. All inflated bills till November will be written off. We will give 20,000 litres of water to every household free per month and fix higher tariffs for those who consume more.”

Gentleman’s Word

Kejriwal added, “We will raise an exclusive citizens’ security force to provide 24×7 security to women and elderly since the Delhi Police has become inefficient and behaves like extortionists.” He had also spoken against FDI in retail. Since coming to power, the AAP government has started acting on all these promises, for good or bad.

What is the fallout? The Opposition party that thought Kejriwal would be a convenient stick to beat the Congress with, now realises that the growing support to AAP across India could upset Narendra Modi’s apple cart on the urban turf.

The businesses that thought of waging a proxy war against Congress through the Anna-Kejriwal movements now know that the AAP government could dent their interests like no other. So, an operation is on to try and discredit, if not topple, the AAP regime and Team Kejriwal, before Lok Sabha elections.

Will that work? We saw the same tricks in Bengal too. Those who fanned Mamata Banerjee’s electoral conquest of the Left turned against her after she refused to dole out return gifts. For all the criticism from Mamata’s friends-turned-foes, the Trinamool Congress’ base among ordinary Bengalis is growing.

The same tricks that failed to trip up Mamata will fail against Team Kejriwal in AAP’s national campaign before Lok Sabha polls. That is the danger of riding a tiger.

Source Lnk: http://blogs.economictimes.indiatimes.com

Somnath Bharti a hero for Khirki Extension residents

AAP's sting operation exposing drugs,sex and prostitution by Ugandan and Nigerian nationals - NewsX

AAP's sting operation exposing drugs,sex and prostitution by Ugandan and Nigerian nationals - NewsX

Bharti lashes out at media, Delhi Commission for Women

NEW DELHI: In the eye of a storm, controversial Delhi Law Minister Somnath Bharti today accused the media of taking money from Narendra Modi and slammed the Delhi Commission for Women.

Bharti, who had chosen to attend a kite-flying festival instead of appearing before the Delhi Commission of Women yesterday after he was summoned for the midnight "raid" episode, charged that the Women's Commission is "political".

Attacking DCW chief Barkha Singh, he said, "Barkha Singh is a Congress member... she should have resigned herself after her government's term ended".

Terming all the reports against him as false, the Law Minister threatened, "They are trying to defame me, I am going to take them to the court." However, it was not clear who he was referring to.

As reporters continued to question him over the controversy surrounding him, he accused them of taking money from the Gujarat Chief Minister.

"How much money have you received from Modi?" he shot back.

DCW had yesterday summoned Bharti following allegations that the Delhi minister led a group of AAP workers who misbehaved with a number of African women on the pretext of a raid on an alleged drug and prostitution ring in South Delhi last week.

The Law Minister was asked to depose before the commission to explain the charges against him but he sent his lawyers who said he was absent due to "some urgencies".

Bharti's lawyers and the Commission chief Singh, a former Congress MLA, had a public confrontation at the DCW office after she refused to allow them to present the minister's response.

The Aam Aadmi Party had yesterday said in a statement that it "strongly disapproved of the politicisation of the office of the Delhi Commission for Women by its chairperson". — PTI

Source Link: http://www.tribuneindia.com

केजरीवाल ने मनमोहन को लिखी चिट्ठी

अमर उजाला, नई दिल्ली मुख्यमंत्री अरविंद केजरीवाल ने तीन आईएएस अधिकारियों का ट्रांसफर रुकवाने के लिए प्रधानमंत्री को चिट्ठी लिखी है। अमर उजाला के पास मौजूद चिट्ठी में केजरीवाल ने कहा है कि अभी सरकार बनाई है। नई राजनीति में भरोसा करने वाले लाखों लोगों का सपना पूरा करने के लिए आपके समर्थन की जरूरत है।

गृहमंत्रालय के आदेश के पांचवें दिन 15 जनवरी को लिखी चिट्ठी में केजरीवाल ने कहा है, ‘जिन कुछ अधिकारियों का ट्रांसफर किया गया है, वह दिल्ली का अनुभव रखते हैं। हमें उनकी जरूरत है। जहां तक मैं समझता हूं ऐसे आदेश करने से पहले प्रभावित होने वाले राज्य या केंद्र शासित प्रदेश से सलाह करनी चाहिए, लेकिन हमसे नहीं पूछा गया।’

मुख्यमंत्री ने पत्र में कहा है, ‘आप जानते हैं कि लोकसभा के चुनाव कुछ ही महीने में होने हैं जिसकी आचार संहिता लागू होने में कुछ सप्ताह रह गए हैं। इसलिए मैं आपसे आग्रह करता हूं कि गृह मंत्रालय को कम से कम लोकसभा चुनाव प्रक्रिया पूरी होने तक इस आदेश को स्टे करने का निर्देश दें।’

गौरतलब है कि दिल्ली सरकार के प्रधान स्वास्थ्य सचिव एससीएल दास, शहरी विकास विभाग के सचिव एसएस यादव और वैट आयुक्त प्रशांत गोयल का ट्रांसफर गृहमंत्रालय ने हाल ही में किया था। इससे पहले तमाम अनुभवी अधिकारियों का स्थानांतरण पहले हो चुका है।

Source Link: http://www.amarujala.com

Truth of Khirki Extension

The truth of the Khirki extension is presented below through a series of documents & videos.

1. Complaints of Khirki Extn - Details of old but unacted complaints filed by residents.

2. Analysis of the contents of the complaints - filed by alleged victims with DCW and also in the application filed under 156(3) with Saket Courts whereby they got an order of filing FIR as perceived from the media. Also we have a letter from two advocates of Saket Bar who witnessed SHO, Malviya Nagar dictating 156(3) application, an application to get an order from the court against his own self i.e. a conspiracy.

3. Letter written (transcribed from the video) by the case Investigating officer to AIIMS - It shows that they asked for frisking to be done by AIIMS doctors. They asked for urine etc. to be collected. My suggestion was blood samples which they refused on record. MLCs clearly records that all the four girls refused showing passport and refusing blood samples. (Video is there in the CD)

Accompanying Videos

1. Condom and liquid spilled in the private car
2. Lady police
3. Naked in front of police - I
4. Naked in front of police - II
5. One girl caught
6. Racial Discrimination by police
7. Trying to hide drugs
8. Written complaint

Source Link: http://www.aamaadmiparty.org

Constitution does not prevent a Chief Minister from protesting: Kejriwal

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who has been in the line of fire for holding a dharna on the streets of the national capital, defended himself saying that the Constitution does not prevent a CM from sitting on protest. "Our Constitution gives us the right to peaceful protest. I have not violated the Constitution. The Constitution does not say that a CM cannot sit on protest for the rights of the people," he said adding that he will come back on the streets to protest whenever needed.

Kejriwal, who had recently during his protest threatened to disrupt Republic Day function at Rajpath, took the salute at a pre-Republic day parade organised at Delhi's Chatrasal Stadium by Delhi Police on Saturday.

During his speech Kejriwal spoke about empowering the people of Delhi and shared his dream of making it the first corruption free state. "The power to take decisions for your locality will ultimately lie with you," he said.

Kejriwal also spoke about women safety and said that security is of utmost importance for their government. "We have formed a committee under Chief Secretary to look into a making a special task force to provide security for the women," he said.

Taking pride in the change that the government has been able to bring, Kejriwal said that the auto drivers and rickshaw pullers are now relieved of the menace that was created by the police. "There is a decline in corruption by almost 20 per cent," he claimed.

Kejriwal assured that his government will bring the Jan Lokpal Bill in February. "The Lokpal Bill is almost ready. We will bring a special session of the Delhi Assembly and pass the Jan Lokpal Bill in February.

Source Link: http://ibnlive.in.com

Midnight ‘raid’ based on evidence: Yadav

Tribune News Service/PTI

New Delhi, January 24 Amid demands for the removal of Somnath Bharti for the midnight “raid”, AAP today jumped to his defence, saying he had sought action against the alleged drug and prostitution racket on the basis of "some evidence".

Senior AAP leader Yogendra Yadav said it was a “mistake” on the part of his party not to have “cobbled” together the evidence supporting Bharti’s action and put it in public domain to dispel the impression that he had acted without any basis.

On his part, Bharti today failed to appear before Delhi Commission for Women (DCW). Instead, he sent his lawyer, who was engaged in heated arguments with its chairperson Barkha Singh.

Defending Bharti, Yadav, speaking on a TV channel, said: “I saw the evidence myself.... I admit that the mistake was that we should have cobbled all evidence and put it in public domain and let the public view it. I think we allowed the mistaken impression to persist, which was an error.”

Asked if Bharti would have been exonerated had the evidence been put out, Yadav said, “Not exonerated. Prima facie, there is no evidence for all things that are being put out (against Bharti).”

Bharti is facing criticism over allegedly misbehaving with four African women during a midnight raid conducted by him to bust a drug and prostitution racket in South Delhi following which he was served notice by the DCW. He was asked to appear before the commission by today to explain charges against him.

The DCW refused to entertain his lawyer Rishikesh Kumar and said he had no authorisation from Bharti. However, Kumar claimed that the DCW had sent the summons to a wrong address.

Source Link: http://www.tribuneindia.com

Taqdeer badalni hai hame desh badalna hai

Le aam aadmi saath hame chalte chalna hai
Taqdeer badalni hai hame desh badalna hai
Le aam aadmi saath …………………………………………

Ummeed pe dunia hai ummeed nahi.n chhodo
Ab jimmedaari se muh apna nahin modo
Mil apne khayaalon se sab logo.n ko jodo
Janta ki ummeedo.n ko kisi haal nahin todo
Achchaaee buraaee ka har bhed samajhna hai
Taqdeer badalni hai hame desh badalna hai
Le aam aadmi saath …………………………………………

Wado.n ko nibhaane ka wada na koee toote
Patwaar yeh kashti ki haanthon se nahin chhoote
Qismat hai jo Bharat ki bhoole se bhi na foote
Rehna hai sada chaukas dushman na hame.n loote
Aasaan nahin raahe.n parvat pe chadna hai
Taqdeer badalni hai hame desh badalna hai
Le aam aadmi saath …………………………………………

jo dard nahin samjhe wo atyaachaari hai
sarkaar nikammi hai sarkaar bimaari hai
ye desh bade kaise sab oar laachaari hai
keh do ye nikammo.n se ab AAP ki baari hai
aata hai hame kaise maslo.n se nibatna hai
Taqdeer badalni hai hame desh badalna hai
Le aam aadmi saath …………………………………………

Jeene ke liye apne saamaan dhundhna hai
Har ek samasya ki samaathaan dhundhna hai
Armaano.n ke apne aasmaan dhundhna hai
Apmaan nahin hamko sammaan dhundhna hai
Mushkil har rasto.n pe gir gir ke sambhlna hai
Taqdeer badalni hai hame desh badalna hai
Le aam aadmi saath …………………………………………

Alok Kumar AAP- M.No. 9001099471

Source Link: https://plus.google.com

Reality at Khirki Extension

There has been plenty of mis-communication over the past few days about what happened at Khirki extention in Delhi. Experts in the media has started to take positions and criticize AAP based on unconfirmed reports.

At this point, the only thing that we can say conclusively is that the people in the area have had a genuine issue and our corrupt, bureaucratic system has been unable to address this for years. What is important is that we recognize this and try and address this.

Until the dharna we had a case of a Danish woman being raped, a young woman being burnt and the drug trafficking and sex trade complaints from Khirki extension. Yet, no one was held accountable. The police had refused to take action claiming there was nothing wrong!

It's simple. It's corruption. There is collusion of our police with criminals.

Stop corruption. Fix responsibility. Hold our police accountable.

We are here to make this happen. If this makes us anarchists, so be it.

AAP posts video of police brutality, three cops suspended

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Friday released a video showing policemen beating a man and pulling out his wallet. Three policemen have since been suspended.

This comes just days after Kejriwal led a two-day protest against Delhi Police earlier this week.

The AAP posted the video online with a message that asked Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde whether action would be taken against the policemen caught on camera.

The party said the footage was shot by a "vigilante" near Delhi's Red Fort Jan 12. It shows two uniformed men beating a man with a stick, pulling out his wallet and taking money from it.

"Just after the video was uploaded, the police came into action and three cops were suspended," Delhi Police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat told IANS.

"Delhi Police is known to be brutal. Every now and then we hear stories about Delhi Police's brutality. Here is another such video. Not only does the video clearly show Delhi Police's inhuman behaviour, but also the urban legend of police extorting money is caught on camera," AAP said in its message.

Kejriwal held a traffic-stopping 33-hour protest this week to demand action against Delhi Police officers who had refused to make arrests ordered by his ministers.

The chief minister has blamed the force for the rising crime in the capital, and demanded that control of the force, which rests at present with the union government, be transferred to the state government.

Source Link: http://in.news.yahoo.com

For Video, see this Post

SC slams Delhi Police over Kejriwal dharna

NEW DELHI: Arvind Kejriwal's role in leading a protest while holding constitutional office today came under the scrutiny of the Supreme Court which slammed law enforcing agencies for allowing unlawful assembly of supporters of the Chief Minister in the heart of national Capital.

The apex court disapproved Delhi Police's inaction in permitting people to gather outside the Rail Bhavan despite prohibitory orders under Section 144 of Code of Criminal Procedure barring assembly of five and more persons being in force.

"How did they (people) assemble when prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC were clamped. Why did you let it happen in the first place when the mob is already there," a Bench comprising justices R. M. Lodha and Shiva Kirti Singh asked Delhi Police Commissioner B. S. Bassi.

"Why did the police at all permit people to gather when it will amount to breach of prohibitory orders. What we are inclined to know is whether the police acted," the Bench said, while adding that "by allowing five people it swelled into 500 and thereafter into thousands".

Observing that "the task in hand is to see that the constitutional provisions are respected," the Bench sought explanation by Janaury 31 from the Police Commissioner why people were allowed to gather unlawfully at the site of dharna by Kejriwal.

The AAP party was demanding action against policemen who refused to carry out a raid on an alleged drug and prostitution ring on a Delhi minister Somnath Bharti's directive last week.

"We want information on two queries as to why despite the prohibitory order under Section 144 of CrPC the law enforcing agencies/police permit five and more persons unlawfully.

"Second, whether law enforcing agencies/police acted appropriately and with utmost expedition in dispersing the unlawful assembly by force under section 129 (2) of CrPC after such assembly was informed under section 129 (1) of CrPC to disperse and despite such command the assembly did not disperse," the Bench said in its order.

The Bench, which was hearing the PIL filed by advocate M. L. Sharma, issued notice to the Centre through the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Delhi Government and sought their response within sex weeks on the issue whether constitutional post holder can resort to agitation in violation of law.

"The Constitution is supreme and every institution is a product of the Constitution, and every individual who holds the office is governed by the Constitution," the Bench observed, while adding that "we are only concerned with constitutional issues".

It agreed to examine "whether a Chief Minister/minister is allowed to play a double role, i.e., holding constitutional office and street agitator against the constitutional systems at the same time under the Constitution of India". The Bench also tagged the petition filed by another advocate N Rajaraman, who also raised identical issues.

The court was told that the "law makers have become law breakers" and this has been manifested by Kejriwal and his ministers who staged the dharna, hampering preparations for the Republic Day.

Before seeking explanation from the Delhi Police Commissioner, the Bench raised several questions to Additional Solicitor General Siddharth Luthra, who had contended that there was no need to go into the petition filed by Rajaraman as the prayers made by him has become infructuous.

Luthra had submitted that the police had swung into action on January 19 evening by issuing prohibitory orders but people violated it and started gathering around the site of Kejriwal's dharna the next day.

When the ASG explained the process for dealing with the violation of prohibitory order, the Bench questioned why there was delay on part of the cops to disperse the unlawful assembly of people.

"These are matters of law and order. How did they (people) assemble. Mob is already there and you are allowing the gathering to swell," the Bench said and added that law enforcing agencies should have acted under the legal provision by issuing a command that people should disperse.

"Our concern is when we are empowered to enforce law, why did it allow it to happen (unlawful assembly)," the Bench said.

When ASG said the police generally wait for 45 minutes after the command, the Bench declined to accept his explanation and gave an example of the terror strike at World Trade Centre in the US. "In three minutes, the WTC collapsed in the US," the Bench said. — PTI

Source Link: http://www.tribuneindia.com

Bharti fails to appear before Delhi Women's Commission

NEW DELHI: Delhi's controversial Law Minister Somnath Bharti on Friday failed to appear before the Delhi Women's Commission and instead sent his lawyers who had a public spat with the panel chief Barkha Singh after she refused to entertain them.

DCW had summoned Bharti following allegations that he led a group of AAP workers who misbehaved with a number of African women on the pretext of a raid on an alleged drug and prostitution ring in South Delhi last week.

The Law Minister was asked to depose before the Commission on Friday afternoon to explain the charges against him but he sent his lawyers, who said he was absent due to "some urgencies".

DCW chief Barkha Singh said the Commission had asked the minister to depose before it and would not accept explanation of his lawyers.

One of Bharti's lawyers Rishikesh Kumar said Singh did not allow them to put across his point on the issue.

"I have been asked by Somnath Bharti to represent him in today's proceeding. I came here at 3 pm and as I entered inside, I saw many camerapersons were already present there. So, I said that it's already 3 o'clock and we have been sent by Bharti to represent him," he said

"We were told lawyers cannot represent. I said I have got the instructions. I have got the authorisation, and can you please let me speak? Then, she said, 'no, you are a lawyer'. But I kept saying that we have a humble submission. I told her that because of some urgencies Bharti might not be able to attend today's hearing," Kumar said.

The AAP had on Thursday decided to back Bharti and to await the findings of a judicial inquiry before any action can be taken against him.

However, the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) of the party chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal disapproved of the language used by Bharti against senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley and noted lawyer Harish Salve and asked him not to use foul language in public discourse.

Kumar said Bharti will file a written reply as the minister had received four separate complaints by four different women.

"We are going through the letters of complaints and will soon file a written reply because we have got the notice and we don't want to evade the due process of law and duly authorised representative can speak on behalf of the law minister. That's what we are trying do but there was already a lot of chaos," he said. — PTI

Source Link: http://www.tribuneindia.com

Brutality of Delhi Police near Lal Qila on 12-01-14

Published on Jan 12, 2014

This video shows the Inhumane act of Police in Delhi on Sunday evening (12-01-14)

Court raps Delhi Police for inaction; AAP backs Bharti

Tribune News Service & PTI

New Delhi, January 23
Pressure is mounting on the Delhi Government to take action against its Law Minister Somnath Bharti for allegedly misbehaving with a Ugandan woman in the light of a city court rapping Delhi Police for its failure to take action on the victim’s plea to lodge an FIR against the mob allegedly led by the minister during a raid at Khirki Extension in South Delhi on January 15.

The court today asked the DCP, South Delhi, to explain whether his office received any such complaint in this regard or not as despite clear offence being made out in the complaint no action was taken by the police.

“Despite various allegations made in a complaint filed before the court and the fact that the complaint was received at Malviya Nagar police station, no action has been taken by the SHO. It has been stated that the complaint is pending inquiry.

“Before passing any further order on application.... I deem it fit to call for reply from the DCP,” said Metropolitan Magistrate Chetna Singh.

The court sought the DCP’s response by January 25.

The court order came on a second application on the incident by a Ugandan woman, who also sought registration of criminal cases against the persons for creating a ruckus during the raid conducted between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. on the intervening night of January 15-16.

Sources in the Delhi Government, however, confirmed that no action will be taken against the minister till the inquiry ordered by Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung is over. The minister might face an axe from the core committee of party which is considering a separate ‘internal’ probe against Bharti.

Senior leader Yogender Yadav made it clear that it will stand by Bharti and will not take any action against him till the judicial inquiry by the Lieutenant Governor is over.

Yaday urged people to not believe in one-sided stories. He said nothing can be said as of now as the evidence against him was not conclusive.

Bharti was also summoned for questioning on the matter in the meeting of party’s Political Affairs Committee (PAC).

Senior Delhi Congress leaders led by Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Arvinder Singh met the Lt Governor seeking the removal and arrest of Bharti.

Till date, three foreign women have recorded their statements before a magistrate, in which they have alleged that Bharti had barged into their house along with his supporters on the intervening night of January 15-16.

Delhi Police have already registered a case on January 19 against unknown persons on a plea.

Source Link: http://www.tribuneindia.com

Kejriwal meets Lieutenant Governor amid Bharti controversy

NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday met Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung and is believed to have discussed the controversy surrounding Law Minister Somnath Bharti, who is under attack for allegedly heading a group of assaulters in a midnight raid in South Delhi.

The meeting came a day after various women rights activists and the Delhi Commission for Women sought action against Bharti for allegedly taking law into his hands.

The AAP government has come under attack from rivals and women's activists who said the Chief Minister had staged a two-day dharna in the name of women's safety but was following "double standards" on the issue of the minister.

Bharti was involved in a row with the police last week when they refused to raid an alleged drug and prostitution racket, following which he allegedly led his supporters in forcing African women to give urine samples.

With the minister becoming a source of a major embarrassment, AAP has advised him to be "careful and humble" while making public statements.

A number of party leaders are said to be upset with Bharti who had earlier stoked controversies by seeking a meeting of Delhi judges and was involved in talking to a witness he was cross examining as a lawyer.

One of the African women, who has recorded her statement before a magistrate, had said she identified Bharti as having led the group that barged into her house and attacked them.

"We were attacked on Wednesday night by Indians who were led by Somnath Bharti...We were harassed, we were beaten, they were having long sticks. They said we should leave their country or else they would kill us one by one," the Ugandan national had said.

Bharti has refused to make any comments on the demands for his removal while the party and his colleagues came in his defence, saying any citizen, more so a minister, has the right to ask police to act on any illegal activity. — PTI

Source Link: http://www.tribuneindia.com