Page 60 - Aap Government

Having attained national party status, AAP to go full throttle for 2024

After turning into a national party, the Aam Aadmi Party has now started preparing for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. While on the one hand, the party is working to form new organisational structures

BJP trying to topple Delhi govt by offering money to MLAs, alleges AAP

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has alleged that the BJP, which has only eight MLAs in the Delhi Assembly, is trying to topple the Arvind Kejriwal government by offering money to legislators under the guise of a no-confidence motion. Addressing a press conference here, the AAP's Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is offering two options to his party MLAs -- they should either join the saffron party or the CBI-ED will put them in jail. The BJP is planning to bring a no-confidence motion against the Kejriwal government during the ongoing session of the Delhi Assembly. "The AAP has 62 MLAs with a thumping majority and the BJP has eight MLAs. But the BJP wants to topple the government by buying MLAs under the guise of a no-confidence motion, just like governments that fell from Madhya Pradesh to Maharashtra. Here are the options that the BJP is giving to our MLAs -- join the BJP or the CBI-ED will put you in jail," Chadha said. "The BJP has been losing

AAP hits out at LG amid row over allotment of Sisodia's govt residence

The AAP claimed that law and convention mandate that a minister, on resigning from his or her office, is bound to vacate his official residence

Feedback Unit case: CBI slaps new case on former Delhi Dy CM Manish Sisodia

Delhi's jailed former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia has been booked by the CBI in a new case related to alleged misuse of official position and financial impropriety in the government's Feedback Unit (FBU) which was also used for "political snooping", officials said Thursday. Already arrested by the CBI in the excise policy case and at present in the custody of the Enforcement Directorate, the woes of 51-year-old Sisodia aggravated after the agency registered a fresh case against him and five others on Tuesday for alleged criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, forgery and under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, they said. The agency booked Sisodia, a 1992-batch IRS officer Sukesh Kumar Jain who was then secretary of vigilance, retired CISF DIG Rakesh Kumar Sinha who was working as special advisor to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and joint director in the Feedback Unit, they said. Besides, former joint deputy director of Intelligence Bureau Pradeep Kumar

Delhi govt's Budget to have 'biggest outlay' for infrastructure projects

The 2023-24 budget of the AAP government, to be tabled in the assembly on Tuesday, will have "the biggest" outlay of capital expenditure for infrastructure projects such as roads and double-decker flyovers, Delhi government sources said. With a boost in tax revenue, the government's budget outlay for 2023-24 may be close to Rs 80,000 crore, they said ahead of the Budget Session of the Delhi assembly that will start on Friday. The Arvind Kejriwal government's plan to beautify and modernise the national capital's infrastructure will be the main focus of Budget 2023-24. "The budget will have the biggest outlay for capital expenditure towards infrastructure projects in the last eight years of the Kejriwal government," a source in the Delhi government said and added that education and health will also be major focus areas. The Delhi government has plans to upgrade and beautify the entire 1,400 kilometres road network of the public works department and nearly Rs 20,000 crore will be spen

Not working to form next govt but for prosperity of next gen: Punjab CM

Mann said unlike the previous governments who did everything for forming the next government, his government is focusing largely on holistic growth of the next generation

Will remove 5 mn MT garbage from Bhalswa landfill by March next year: CM

Delhi government's target is to remove 50 lakh metric tonnes of garbage from the Bhalswa landfill by March next year, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Thursday during a visit to the site. Kejriwal, along with Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi, reviewed the progress of work to remove garbage from the landfill. "The target is to remove 50 lakh metric tonnes of garbage from here by March next year. Work is going on at double speed. Soon Delhi will be made garbage-free," he said. Kejriwal said that 11,000 MT (metric tonnes) of garbage is generated daily in Delhi and there are arrangements to deal with over 8,100 MT. "This means 2,800 MT of garbage is left. Expansion work is underway at Okhla to handle 1,000 MT of the garbage while the Bawana Waste To Energy Plant will be ready by 2026 to handle 2,000 MT of garbage," he said. The chief minister said 30 lakh MT of waste has been removed from the landfill since 2019 while 50 lakh MT is still lying there of which 30 lakh MT will be reduced

Kejriwal cannot escape responsibility for liquor scam under his govt: BJP

The BJP fired a fresh salvo at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday, saying he cannot escape responsibility for the "liquor scam" under his government. Delhi BJP's working president Virendra Sachdeva said Kejriwal never cared to reply to the "grave questions" raised by the saffron party over the "liquor scam" and defended former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who is currently in jail in connection with a case pertaining to alleged irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the excise policy for the national capital. Sachdeva asked Kejriwal why the wholesale liquor business in Delhi was handed over to private players, despite a technical committee's recommendation that it should be handled by the government. Why was the commission of wholesalers raised from 5 per cent to 12 per cent against the recommendation of the committee, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader asked. "Kejriwal is the mastermind of the liquor scam and he cannot escape the probe,"

Cong, BRS, AAP move suspension of business notice in RS on Adani row

Members of Congress, BRS and AAP on Tuesday moved suspension of business notice in the Rajya Sabha under rule 267 demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the Hindenburg-Adani row

AAP launches door-to-door campaigns against arrests of Sisodia, Jain

The AAP on Monday kicked off signature and door-to-door campaigns as part of its protest against the arrest of party leaders Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain on corruption charges. The campaigns started near the Metro station at Laxmi Nagar in the presence of Gopal Rai, the AAP's Delhi convenor. The AAP has alleged that Jain and Sisodia were arrested to stop the Delhi government's good work in health and education. Through these campaigns, the AAP aims to apprise people about the "false cases" registered against Sisodia and Jain. Jain is lodged in Tihar jail in connection with a money laundering case. He was arrested last May. The CBI arrested Sisodia on February 26 in connection with alleged irregularities related to implementation of the now scrapped Excise Policy, 2021-22. The two leaders have since resigned from the Delhi Cabinet, being replaced by Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj. BJP leaders on Monday also staged a 'maun vrat (silent sit-in)' at Rajghat to press for Delhi Chie

Kejriwal, Mann to lead AAP's 'Tiranga Yatra' in Jaipur on Monday

On the eve of the party's "Tiranga Yatra" in Jaipur led by Chief Ministers Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann, AAP leader Vinay Mishra on Sunday said about four-and-a-half lakh people have become its members recently and that the party was optimistic about its performance in the coming assembly polls in Rajasthan. He said the party's chief ministers will sound the poll bugle in the state with the yatra and appealed to people to join it. After the "Tiranga Yatra" (tricolour rally) from Sanganeri Gate to Ajmeri Gate here, Delhi CM Kejriwal and Punjab CM Maan will address a gathering. Assembly elections in Rajasthan is scheduled for later this year. Mishra, the party's in-charge for Rajasthan, told a press conference, "I would like to appeal to people to connect with the yatra as it is important for Rajasthan where the BJP and the Congress formed governments alternately and worked to dupe people." Within 15-20 days of the party's membership drive, about four-and-a-half lakh people hav

AAP unveils UP poll plan, promises waivers in water and house tax

The AAP on Sunday unveiled its election plank for urban local body polls in Uttar Pradesh, promising to halve house taxes and waive water taxes in municipal bodies it wins. AAP MP Sanjay Singh, the party's Uttar Pradesh in-charge, launched the party's slogan -- "House Tax Half, Water Tax Maaf" -- to woo the electorate during a visit to Lucknow. He also declared in-charges for 633 urban local body seats in Uttar Pradesh and said the party will contest from every constituency. During his visit, Singh called the ED (Enforcement Directorate) the "Entertainment Department" and alleged that central agencies are being misused to target the opposition. Singh said the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet has accepted the report of the commission set up to look into the issue of reservation to Other Backward Castes (OBCs) in urban local body polls and expressed hope that the government will soon announce the election dates, he said. The party will reach out to the public and ask them to give the AAP an ..

AAP plans mega rally in Bhopal on Tuesday; Kejriwal, Mann to attend

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann will on Tuesday address a rally in Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, where polls are to be held at the end of the year, with the Aam Aadmi Party working hard to mobilise a one-lakh crowd. The AAP hopes to make a mark in the politics of MP that so far has been centred around the Bharatiya Janata Party, which has been in power for a dominant part of the last two decades, and the Congress. "We are working hard to ensure one lakh people attend our rally in BHEL Dussehra Maidan in Bhopal on Tuesday. After this, we are going to hold such big rallies in all the divisional headquarters in the state," former MP AAP chief Pankaj Singh told PTI. Singh said the AAP had made more than five lakh members since a drive was launched for this by the party's organisation general secretary Sandeep Pathak on February 4. Pathak, who is considered one of the main architects of the AAP's strategy in Punjab and Gujarat, has toured Bhopal

After ED questioning over Delhi liquor policy, Kavitha meets Telangana CM

After being questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) over the Delhi liquor policy scam, Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) leader and Telangana MLC, K. Kavitha, returned from Delhi

Delhi excise policy case: K Kavitha appears before ED for questioning

BRS leader K Kavitha deposed before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) here on Saturday, with the agency all set to confront her with an arrested accused and record her statement in connection with its money-laundering probe into alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy. The 44-year-old daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao arrived at the federal agency's headquarters on APJ Abdul Kalam Road from her father's official residence on Tughlak Road, located about 1.5 kilometres away, around 11 am. There was a heavy presence of Delhi Police and central paramilitary forces personnel for barricading the ED office even as the supporters of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader staged a protest on APJ Abdul Kalam Road. The ED had asked Kavitha to depose on March 9, but she sought a fresh date due to her scheduled daylong hunger strike here on Friday seeking the passage of the long-pending Women's Reservation Bill in the Budget Session of Parliament. The BRS MLC ha

BJP holds protest against Delhi govt's now scrapped liquor policy

Several BJP leaders, including South Delhi MP Ramesh Bidhuri, and party workers on Friday held a protest here against the Kejriwal government's now-scrapped liquor policy. They were raising slogans against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and demanding his resignation. There was heavy police deployment in the central part of the city. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg, where the Aam Aadmi Party office is located, was barricaded to restrict the movement of vehicles. Former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia was arrested by the CBI on February 26 in connection with alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi liquor or excise policy for 2021-22.

AAP govt presents its first complete Punjab Budget of Rs 1.96 trillion

Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Friday presented the first complete state Budget of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government with an outlay of Rs 196,462 crore

Excise policy scam: Delhi court to hear Manish Sisodia's bail plea today

A Delhi court is to hear on Friday the bail application of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and former deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in connection with the now-scrapped excise policy case

Atishi education minister, Saurabh Bharadwaj new health minister in Delhi

Aam Aadmi Party MLAs Saurabh Bharadwaj and Atishi were sworn in as ministers by Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena on Thursday in the presence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhur also attended the oath-taking ceremony. Atishi will handle education, PWD, power and tourism departments, while Bharadwaj will look after health, urban development, water and industries. Following the resignations of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and minister Satyendar Jain, both currently in Tihar jail in alleged corruption and money laundering cases, respectively, two Cabinet berths had fallen vacant. Sisodia was arrested by CBI on February 26 in connection with alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy for 2021-22. He is in judicial custody till March 20. Jain, who is also in judicial custody, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a case of alleged money laundering on May

Delhi excise policy case: BRS leader Kavitha to appear before ED on Mar 11

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao's politician daughter K Kavitha on Wednesday said she will appear before the Enforcement Directorate on March 11 in connection with a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy. Kavitha Kalvakuntla (44), a Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC, declared this in a late-night post on her official Twitter handle. "I will be appearing before the Enforcement Directorate in New Delhi on March 11, 2023," she said. The BRS leader landed in the national capital from Hyderabad late evening. She was summoned by the ED to depose before it on March 9. Kavitha has been called by the agency so that she can be confronted with Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Ramchandran Pillai, an alleged frontman of the "south group", who was arrested by the ED on Monday. The agency will record Kavitha's statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) during this confrontation. Pillai is in ED custody and the agency had