Page 51 - Aap

AAP being attacked as it is BJP's biggest challenger, says Delhi CM

The AAP is the biggest challenger to the BJP and that is why it is under attack from all sides, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Saturday during a discussion on the motion of confidence he moved in the Budget session of the assembly. Speaking on the motion of confidence, Kejriwal asserted that even if the BJP wins this year's Lok Sabha polls, the AAP will "liberate" the country from the saffron party in the 2029 elections. The Delhi chief minister, who is also the AAP convenor, said his government has a majority in the House but it needed to bring the motion of confidence because the BJP was trying to poach party MLAs and topple his government. The House later passed the motion of confidence through a voice vote, with 54 of the AAP's 62 MLAs present during the voting. Kejriwal also asserted that no AAP MLA had defected. Two MLAs are in jail, some are unwell and some others are out of station, he said. He said several MLAs explained how they were contacted and offered m

Temporary structure falls at Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, 11 rescued

At least 11 people trapped under the debris of a collapsed temporary structure at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in south Delhi were rescued on Saturday, officials said. The incident occurred at 11 am, police said. A Delhi Fire Services official said a call was received about the pandal (temporary structure) collapsing at the stadium. Initially, two people were rescued from under the debris. Later, nine more people were brought out. A police officer said most of the injured are workers. "The pandal was being erected for a wedding function near Gate No 2. The injured have been taken to AIIMS trauma centre for treatment," the officer said, and added no casualties have been reported so far. Personnel from the police and the fire department, and ambulances are on the spot, the officer added.

Will personally invite Bajrang, Vinesh, Sakshi for trials: Sanjay Singh

WFI President Sanjay Singh on Friday assured that the protesting wrestlers' trio of Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik would not face any discrimination and he would personally approach them for appearance in the Olympic Qualifiers trials, which will be held in Maharashtra. World governing body UWW had lifted the provisional suspension imposed on the WFI with a rider that no wrestler should face discrimination. Punia, Phogat and Malik had led a protest against former WFI President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who they have accused of sexual exploitation of women wrestlers. The elite wresters are also against Sanjay Singh's election as WFI chief, saying that he is a Brij Bhushan loyalist and his election is a threat to women wrestlers. "We have started planning to take Indian wrestling forward. We will soon organise trials for the Olympic Qualifying events in Maharashtra. The state has good infrastructure. I will ask Bajrang, Vinesh and Sakshi to forget everything and start

MCD develops 1.75 acre green cover in Wazirpur area to curb pollution

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has developed a 1.75 acre green cover in northwest Delhi's Wazirpur locality, a heavily industrialised region and among the top pollution hotspots in the capital, to mitigate the impact of the local sources of air pollution in the area. The civic body planted a total of 16,000 saplings of indigenous varieties on a vacant land that had turned into a garbage dumping point to develop a mini forest in the region using the Miyawaki technique, an official aware of the development told PTI. "The Horticulture department of the MCD in collaboration with an NGO converted the vacant land used for garbage dumping to create a mini forest in the area that will help in improving the air quality levels in the region. We have utilised 1 acre of land for plantation and the rest of the land is used to develop pedestal crossing, install swings, and benches," he said. Wazirpur is among the 13 identified pollution hotspots in the national capital that contribute to the

AAP moves SC against removal of 'encroachment' on land allotted to Delhi HC

The Aam Aadmi Party has moved the Supreme Court against immediate removal of an "encroachment" by it on a land allotted to the Delhi High Court at Rouse Avenue here, saying it will severely prejudice the party as well as the fairness of the electoral process in view of Lok Sabha polls. In an application filed in the pending matter related to judicial infrastructure, the AAP claimed there is no question of it "encroaching" on a space that was duly allotted to it in 2015 and that has been in its possession since then. It said while the party remains ready and willing to vacate the subject premises and requested the top court to direct that such vacation be required only after at least one of the two office spaces that the applicant is entitled to are allotted to it in the New Delhi Municipal area of a nature appropriate to the applicant's status as a National Party. In view of these circumstances, immediate vacation will mean that the applicant will be left with none of the two office

We will continue to remain in INDIA bloc, says AAP MP Sandeep Pathak

Amid a rift with Congress in the INDIA bloc, Aam Aadmi Party MP Sandeep Pathak on Wednesday said that the party will continue to remain in the alliance as winning the election is more important.AAP MP said "We will continue to remain in the alliance. We are not in the alliance for our benefit. We are here because we have to win. Winning is important. All our strategies and decisions are targeted towards victory...""In Punjab, local units of both AAP and Congress said they wanted to contest independently. We are contesting together in Delhi. I hope that seat-sharing discussions happen soon, and I hope they are productive... The basis of seat sharing should be the stronghold of candidates on their constituency," Sandeep Pathak added.Earlier, on Tuesday the Aam Aadmi Party offered the Congress Party a single Lok Sabha seat in Delhi. This is contrary to earlier reports that had suggested a 3-4 formula between Congress and AAP in Delhi.Further, AAP MP Sandeep Pathak said that even though ..

'For alliance dharma', AAP offers Congress 1 Lok Sabha seat in Delhi

Delhi Congress president Arvinder Singh Lovely said seat sharing 'cannot be decided at press conferences', pointing out that Congress candidates were runners-up in five seats

AAP wants to contest 6 seats in Delhi, offer 1 to Congress: Sandeep Pathak

The AAP on Tuesday said it wants to contest six seats in Delhi in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and offer just one to the Congress, asking the senior INDIA bloc ally to conclude seat-sharing talks at the earliest. The party also announced its candidates for two Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat and one in Goa. Addressing a press conference here after a meeting of the party's Political Affairs Committee (PAC), AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak said Venzy Viegas will contest from the South Goa seat, while Chaitar Vasava and Umesh Bhai Makwana from Bharuch and Bhavnagar seats in Gujarat respectively. He said the AAP has demanded eight Lok seats in Gujarat (total 26) from the INDIA bloc which is proportionate to the party's vote share in the last assembly poll. "We want to contest six seats in Delhi and offer one to the Congress for the polls based on the vote shares in recent elections. We are not announcing any candidate for Delhi at the moment but if seat-sharing talks do not happen quickly, w

'Congress doesn't deserve even 1 seat in Delhi': AAP on seat-sharing talks

AAP said that the party wants the Congress to contest only one of the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi

AAP leaders Kejriwal, Bhagwant Mann to visit Ayodhya Ram Temple on Monday

During their visit to Ayodhya, the families of both leaders will also accompany them

We are firmly with 'INDIA': AAP on decision to contest all Punjab seats

Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday emphasised that it was firmly with the INDIA bloc and asked the Congress for a quick decision on seat-sharing, even as it defended the move to go it alone in Punjab saying local units of both parties wanted to fight the Lok Sabha elections separately. AAP convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, while addressing a programme in Punjab earlier in the day, announced that his party will declare its candidates for all 13 Lok Sabha seats in the state and the lone Chandigarh parliamentary seat in the next 10-15 days. The local units of both Congress and AAP in Punjab favoured fighting election separately, the Aam Aadmi Party, which had earlier called for an alliance with the Congress in Delhi, Gujarat, Goa and Haryana, said in a statement. "So we have decided to honour that. Regarding other states, talks are ongoing," the statement said. "We are firmly with the alliance. Our shared goal is to defeat the BJP. Time is thus of paramount importance if the

Chandigarh Mayor Elections: Murder of democracy, says SC

The Supreme Court on Monday said the Returning Officer of the Chandigarh mayoral elections should be prosecuted for tampering with the ballot papers and called the incident a "murder of democracy".

Will build as many schools as summons sent: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal

The summons was issued after non-compliance with its summons in a money-laundering case linked to the Aam Admi Party (AAP) government's Delhi excise policy

AAP to meet on Feb 13 to decide on LS candidates' names for 3 states

The AAP will hold a meeting of its Political Affairs Committee on February 13 to decide on the names of the Lok Sabha candidates for Gujarat, Haryana, and Goa, a party source said on Friday. In a sign of exasperation over protracted seat-sharing talks with its INDIA bloc partner Congress, the AAP on Thursday declared party candidates for three Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam. "The party's PAC will meet on February 13 to decide on the names of the candidates for Gujarat, Goa and Haryana," the source said. Aam Aadmi Party national general secretary (organisation) Sandeep Pathak announced party leaders Manoj Dhanohar, Bhabhen Chaudhary, and Rishi Raj candidates from Dibrugarh, Guwahati, and Sonitpur, in that order. Pathak, in a press conference at AAP headquarters here, said the party is left with little time ahead of the polls. Earlier, the AAP leaders had said that the party was in talks with the Congress over seat-sharing in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat and Goa. AAP national

'Cannot afford any further delays in decision-making': AAP to INDIA bloc

AAP MP Sandeep Pathak expressed impatience with ongoing talks within the INDIA bloc, saying that he hopes the alliance will support the three candidates announced by the party

Court grants exemption to Kejriwal from personal appearance for day

A court here on Wednesday granted exemption to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal from personal appearance for the day in a criminal defamation case for retweeting an allegedly defamatory video circulated by YouTuber Dhruv Rathee in May 2018. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Tanya Bamniyal allowed the exemption plea moved by Kejriwal's counsel and directed him to appear before the court on February 29. The plea claimed that the chief minister was busy with "budget sessions". The Delhi High Court on February 5 had upheld the summons issued to Kejriwal by the trial court as an accused, saying that reposting alleged libelous content will attract the defamation law. Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma had said that a sense of responsibility has to be attached while retweeting content about which one does not have knowledge. Retweeting of defamatory content must invite penal, civil as well as tort action if the person retweeting it does not attach a disclaimer, the high court had ...

ED raids being carried out to trample AAP, trouble us: Delhi CM Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday claimed that 23 Enforcement Directorate (ED) officers carried out raids at his personal assistant's residence for 16 hours but did not find anything. He also claimed that the houses of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders such as Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain and Sanjay Singh were raided as well. But even there, the ED did not find anything, the national convener of the party said. These are being done to trample the AAP and trouble its members, Kejriwal said in a post on 'X'. The ED on Tuesday searched the premises of Kejriwal's personal assistant (PA) Bibhav Kumar and others as part of its probe into charges that the AAP and some officials received kickbacks of about Rs 21 crore through alleged irregularities in a Delhi Jal Board (DJB) contract, official sources said. The action is part of a money laundering investigation focusing on alleged bribes that were garnered through irregularities in the DJB tendering process and purportedly ...

10 million availed 'Aam Aadmi Clinic' services: Punjab health minister

More than one crore people have availed treatment at 'aam aadmi clinics' in Punjab, State Health Minister Balbir Singh said on Tuesday. There are 664 'aam aadmi clinics' --? 236 in urban areas and 428 in rural areas -- ?in the state. These provide free of cost treatment, offering 80 types of free medicines and 38 types of free diagnostics tests. "Over one crore people in the state have availed free treatment from these 'aam aadmi clinics' in the last one and half years," Singh said in a statement. At a virtual meeting with civil surgeons, deputy medical superintendents and senior medical officers to review ongoing projects, he also noted that all the clinics are IT-enabled with end-to-end digitisation of registration, doctor consultation, investigations and prescriptions. The state government has already rolled out the 'Farishtey' scheme under which free treatment is being provided to all road accident victims, irrespective of their nationality, caste or socio-economic status, he .

Sanjay Singh gets nod from court to attend Parliament to take oath as RS MP

A Delhi court on Tuesday granted fresh permission to AAP leader Sanjay Singh, arrested in alleged excise scam, to attend Parliament to take oath as a Rajya Sabha MP. Special Judge MK Nagpal allowed Singh to go to Parliament in police custody either on February 8 or 9. The judge passed the order on the application filed by Singh, seeking directions to the jail superintendent concerned for taking him physically to Rajya Sabha to take oath as its member. The judge had earlier on February 3 allowed a similar application filed by Singh. However, the AAP leader could not take oath despite reaching Parliament on Monday. Official sources cited the direction of Rajya Sabha on August 11, 2023 that Singh's suspension for unruly conduct during the monsoon session will remain in force and he cannot attend proceedings till the Privileges Committee submits its report and it is considered by the House. The application sought direction to the authorities concerned to take him again to Rajya Sabha

Chandigarh mayoral elections: SC appalled by 'defacing' of ballots

Appalled by the alleged defacing of ballot papers in the Chandigarh mayoral polls, the Supreme Court on Monday said this is a mockery of democracy and ordered that the ballots and the video of the electoral proceedings be preserved. Taking note of a plea of an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor alleging wrongdoing in the polls, the court issued notices to the Chandigarh authorities, including the civic body. A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra expressed annoyance after watching the video of the electoral proceedings and said that, prima facie, the returning officer was defacing the ballot papers. "This is a mockery of democracy. We are appalled by what has happened. We will not allow democracy to be murdered like this," the CJI said. The bench ordered that the ballot papers and the video recordings of the proceedings be preserved. One of the AAP councillors had moved the top court challenging a Punjab and Haryana High Court order that