Page 24 - Aam Aadmi Party

MLA RP Gautam joins Cong, alleges discrimination against dalits, minorities

Former Delhi government minister Rajendra Pal Gautam on Friday quit the AAP and joined the Congress, alleging discrimination against Dalit and minority leaders in the Arvind Kejriwal led party. Minutes after announcing his resignation from the AAP and all posts held by him in the party, Gautam joined the Congress. He has also resigned as AAP MLA from the reserved Seemapuri Assembly constituency. In his resignation letter addressed to AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal, Gautam also criticised the party over appearing "very weak and helpless" before the BJP in raising issues like caste census, raising reservation limit above 50 percent, ensuring population based participation of 'Bahujan Samaj', and defending secularism. "I have to say it with a heavy heart that its impossible to imagine about works of social justice and social equality within AAP," he said in his resignation letter. Gautam said, as a soldier of Babasaheb Ambedkar, he was feeling for sometime that he won't be able to achie

Artificial rain, WFH, odd-even: How Delhi is preparing for winter pollution

The 2024 Winter Action Plan focuses on tackling pollution hotspots, controlling vehicular emissions and dust, encouraging work-from-home policies, addressing stubble and waste burning, among others

Punjab govt raises fuel VAT, ends power subsidy to tackle fiscal crisis

The Punjab government increased VAT increase on petrol and diesel, raising the tax by 61 paise per litre for petrol and 92 paise per litre for diesel

Centre targeting our leaders, MLAs; Amanatullah arrested without proof: AAP

AAP on Monday said its MLA Amanatullah Khan has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a "false" case and the more the ruling BJP tries to suppress the Arvind Kejriwal-led party's voice, the more vocal it will be. AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh claimed Khan was arrested "without any evidence". The ED on Monday arrested Khan, the MLA from Delhi's Okhla, in a money laundering case against him and some others linked to him, official sources said. Singh opposed the AAP MLA's arrest, questioning if it was a "comedy or probe" by the agencies. "Is this an investigation or a comedy?' he asked in a post on X and claimed the CBI filed charge sheet in the Waqf Board case against Khan in 2016 and six years later said in its charge sheet "no economic offence has been committed". The Anti Corruption Branch(ACB) and the ED filed cases in the matter and Khan got bail after arrest by the ACB. The ED raided his house in 2023 but nothing was found, and in 2024 he was interrogated for

AAP shouldn't celebrate Vijay, Bibhav's bail, they will be convicted: BJP

The AAP should not celebrate Vijay Nair and Bibhav Kumar's bail as they have to stand trial and will "surely face conviction", Delhi BJP spokesperson Amit Tiwari said on Monday. Earlier in the Day, the Supreme Court granted bail to former AAP communication in-charge Nair in a money laundering case related to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy 2021-22. Nair spent nearly 23 months in jail in the case. The top court also granted bail to Kumar, the aide of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, in the Swati Maliwal assault case noting that he has been in custody for over 100 days. Delhi BJP spokesperson Tiwari said the bail to Nair and Kumar is just a part of the judicial process and has nothing to do with the merits of the case. Under the judicial process every arrested person is eligible to get bail if a court is satisfied that the accused cannot influence the witness or the facts of the case, he said. The AAP leaders should not celebrate the bail granted to Nair and Kumar as they

Delhi HC rejects plea to quash defamation case against Arvind Kejriwal

BJP leader accused Arvind Kejriwal and AAP leaders of defaming the BJP by claiming the party was responsible for deleting 3 million names from the Delhi electoral rolls

Chronology of events in Delhi excise policy case involving AAP's Vijay Nair

The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to former AAP communication in-charge Vijay Nair in a money laundering case linked the alleged Delhi excise policy scam. Following is the timeline of developments in the matter: *Sep 27, 2022: CBI arrests Nair in main corruption case related to Excise policy case. * November 13, 2022: Enforcement Directorate arrests Nair in a money laundering case stemming from the main excise policy case. * November 14: Trial court grants bail to Nair in CBI's main corruption case related to Excise policy. * July 3, 2023: Delhi HC refuses bail to Nair and other co-accused in the money laundering case. *Aug 12, 2024: SC seeks a response of ED on bail plea of Nair. * Sep 2, 2024: SC grants bail to Nair, says liberty is "sacrosanct" and needed to be respected even in cases involving stringent provisions.

SC reiterates 'jail is exception' as it grants bail to AAP's Vijay Nair

The Supreme Court expressed concerns that the ED had not adhered to its timeline for completing the trial, despite earlier assurances, and Nair has been behind bars for 23 months

Haryana polls latest: Jobs issue central; Manish Sisodia leads AAP campaign

The elections in Haryana, originally scheduled for October 1, will now take place in a single phase on October 5. The counting of votes will be done parallel to Jammu & Kashmir on October 8

ED arrests AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan in Delhi Waqf Board 'corruption' probe

In January this year, the agency had filed a charge sheet over alleged irregularities in the recruitment in Delhi Waqf Board under the chairmanship of Amanatullah Khan

AAP's Bharadwaj accuses Centre of 'misusing' ED in Amantullah Khan's case

"The whole country is seeing how the agencies are being misused and as the elections come closer, these people will increase this kind of pressure even more," Bhardwaj said

AAP cries councillor Ram Chander 'kidnapped'; BJP rubbishes claim

The Aam Aadmi Party on Sunday accused the BJP of "kidnapping" its councillor Ram Chander, with the saffron party denying the charges even as the "abducted" member returned to his residence. Upon his return, Chander claimed that he was threatened on the pretext of being framed in ED-CBI cases by the opposition outfit. Ram Chander, who is a councillor from Ward No 28, was one of the five members who joined the BJP last Sunday. However, a few days later, he had a change of heart after he saw Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in his dream and returned to AAP, he said. Later, in a video message, he said that he was taken by some people to BJP headquarters. "There they threatened me saying I would be framed by ED and CBI. My son Akash called the police helpline while our senior party leaders called the police commissioner. When they (BJP) got to know about it, they sent me back home," Chander said in the video message. "I want to tell BJP, I am not scared of ED and CBI. I have done .

Teamwork with stakeholders key to solving Delhi's pollution woes: Gopal Rai

The problem of pollution in Delhi can only be solved through teamwork, Environment Minister Gopal Rai said on Sunday as he urged the Centre to give permission for artificial rain during winter, when air quality levels in the city plummet. Addressing a press conference, Rai said though the Delhi government has taken several steps to address the problem, pollution levels in and around the national capital spike in November. "An emergency situation arises in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The Kejriwal government is working to reduce the pollution levels. Ever since our government came to power, the pollution levels have declined," he said. But November witnesses a spike in pollution levels, he said. "Last year, IIT-Kanpur submitted a proposal that artificial rain or a cloud seeding experiment could be done in Delhi. They said that financial management and security permissions were needed. Last year, there was very little time so permissions could not come through. "We held

Delhi excise policy case: Arvind Kejriwal's custody extended till Sept 3

The Rouse Avenue Court reserved its decision on the CBI's fourth supplementary chargesheet, which lists Kejriwal and five others as accused for the next hearing on September 3

AAP to launch 'Aap ka vidhayak, aap ke dwaar' from Sep 1 for Delhi polls

The AAP will launch a campaign 'AAP ka vidhayak, aap ke dwaar' from September 1 to reach out to people as the party gears up for the Delhi Assembly polls due early next year. Following a meeting of senior party leaders to chalk out the strategy for the polls, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak said the campaign will be intensified in the days to come. "There was a detailed discussion on various aspects related to governance, political scenario and each assembly constituency in Delhi. Manish Sisodia's 'padyatra' has been getting a very positive response," Pathak, who is also the party's national general secretary (organisation), told reporters after the meeting. "Wherever he is going people are coming out and saying 'you have been faced a lot of injustice'. We will continue these padyatras," he added. The party will also be rolling out its campaign 'AAP ka vidhayak, aap ke dwaar' from September 1 wherein the MLAs will hold meetings at the 'mandal' level and booth level where there wi

Cong rules out alliance with AAP for Haryana Assembly polls: Selja

Ruling out the possibility of an alliance with the AAP for the Haryana Assembly polls, senior Congress leader Kumari Selja has said her party is strong in the state and will fight the elections on its own. In an interaction with PTI editors at the news agency's headquarters here, the Lok Sabha MP and the party's prominent Dalit face also dismissed the possibility of a hung assembly, asserting that the Congress would secure an "excellent majority" in the 90-member House. Selja also asserted that the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) has lost a lot of ground in Haryana as it is "breaking up" and does not have a chance in the upcoming polls. "The JJP has lost ground. This time you will not find many takers for the JJP. Even last time, most of the candidates who won were from the Congress. Today, it is already breaking up. Most of their MLAs have already left them. I don't see much of a chance for the JJP in this election," the AICC general secretary and former Haryana Congress chief said. Sh

CM Kejriwal fighting 'toughest battle against dictatorship': Manish Sisodia

Senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia extended birthday wishes to jailed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and said the party supremo has been fighting the "toughest battle against the dictatorship going on in the country". The Aam Aadmi Party will hold a series of events to celebrate the birthday of Kejriwal who turned 56 on Friday. "Happy birthday to the chief minister of Delhi, my dear friend and political guru Arvind Kejriwal ji, who fought the toughest battle against the dictatorship going on in the country. "We are proud to be soldiers of a patriotic and revolutionary leader who chose to go to jail rather than kneel before a dictator. Today the country's democracy is imprisoned in the form of Arvind Kejriwal," Sisodia said in a post in Hindi on 'X'. The former deputy chief minister will also commence his foot march in the evening. In a post on 'X', the AAP said, "Arvind Kejriwal is an idea that gets stronger the more it is suppressed." Delhi minister Atishi described Kejriwal

'It is very sad, flag not hoisted at Delhi CM's house': Sunita Kejriwal

On 78th Independence Day, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's wife, Sunita Kejriwal, expressed her sadness that the national flag was absent from their home due to her husband's imprisonment

Punjab CM holds meeting to review progress in implementation of schemes

Earlier , CM Mann replied to Union Transport Minister Gadkari's letter over alleged attacks on engineers and contractors in Jalandhar, Ludhiana and said that local police have arrested accused

I will take on any role: Manish Sisodia on resuming as Delhi deputy CM

Upon his release from Tihar Jail after 530 days, Manish Sisodia says that the upcoming state Assembly elections are the AAP's priority