Page 87 - Aap

BJP accuses AAP leader of graft, releases sting video ahead of MCD polls

The BJP on Friday accused AAP leader Mukesh Goel of demanding Rs 1 crore from a junior engineer of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi for giving gifts to party leaders. The BJP also released a sting operation video of the AAP leader and urged Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to sack him from the party without any delay. Reacting to the allegations, Goel, the AAP's Madhya Pradesh in-charge, said the video was a "concocted" one and that his party will take legal action against the same. Speaking at a press conference here, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra claimed, "Goel demanded Rs 1 crore from the MCD junior engineer, saying it was needed for giving Diwali gifts to 100-150 leaders." He also said Goel was the "right hand" of Kejriwal who never took any decision in the matters of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) without consulting him. Goel is the AAP candidate from Adarsh Nagar ward in the Delhi civic body polls slated for December 4. Hitting back at the Bharatiya

Sambit Patra's office should be sealed as he is BJP spokesperson: Sisodia

Earlier in the morning, Delhi L-G V.K. Saxena asked Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to remove Shah from the post of vice chairman, DDC for "misusing" his office for political purposes.

BJP accuses AAP MCD candidate Mukesh Goel of corruption, ahead of polls

The BJP on Friday accused AAP leader Mukesh Goel of demanding money from a junior engineer of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi for giving gifts to party leaders. No immediate reaction was available from Goel or the AAP over the BJP's allegations. AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal should immediately sack Goel from the party, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra said at a press conference while showing a video of the purported sting operation on Goel. "Goel demanded Rs one crore from the MCD junior engineer saying it was needed for giving Diwali gifts to 100-150 leaders," Patra alleged. The BJP leader further claimed that Goel was the "right hand" of Kejriwal, who never took any decision on MCD matters without consulting him. Goel is the AAP candidate from the Adarsh Nagar ward in the MCD polls. Goel, a five-time municipal councilor, quit the Congress in November last year and joined the AAP. The 250-ward MCD goes to polls on December 4 and the counting of votes will take place on Dec

BJP targets Delhi CM Kejriwal over cleaning of Yamuna river, air pollution

The BJP on Wednesday accused Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of "doing nothing" to clean the Yamuna river or control air pollution in the city despite making promises elections after elections. BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia claimed that the chief minister failed to clean the Yamuna despite governing the national capital for the last eight years, adding that the Centre and the Delhi L-G managed to clean a 3-km stretch of the river in just three-and-a-half months. "Kejriwal had visited South Korea's Seoul in December 2018 to learn how a polluted river was cleaned there. What did he learn there that despite 50 months, Yamuna's all important parameters, including biochemical oxygen demand, dissolved oxygen and fecal coliform, are much above the permissible limit?" he asked. The Yamuna has permissible limit of fecal coliform bacteria when it enters the city which rises to over 6.5 lakh/100 ml as the river leaves the city, he said. "This over 1,200 per cent more fecal coliform ...

Gujarat polls: AAP's kidnapped candidate resurfaces, withdraws candidature

Since this morning, AAP seniors leaders like Raghav Chadha, Sanjay Singh had been charging the BJP with kidnapping Kanchanbhai as it feared defeat in the next month's Assembly polls.

AAP MLA's relative held for alleged bribe of Rs 90 lakh for poll ticket

The Anti Corruption Branch of the Delhi government has arrested AAP MLA Akhilesh Pati Tripathi's brother-in-law and his two associates for allegedly demanding Rs 90 lakh as bribe for giving ticket to a party worker's wife in the civic polls. The incident came to light on Monday after a Gopal Khari, who stated that he is associated with the Aam Aadmi Party as an active worker since 2014, approached the ACB with the complaint, according to an official statement on Wednesday. Khari had met Model Town legislator Akhilesh Pati Tripathi last Wednesday with a request to secure a councillor ticket from the AAP for his wife for Ward No. 69 in Kamla Nagar, the ACB said. Tripathi had demanded a bribe of Rs 90 lakh for it, following which Khari had paid Rs 35 lakh to him. He also gave Rs 20 lakh to AAP MLA Rajesh Gupta on the Tripathi's insistence, according to a complaint. Khari had told Tripathi that the remaining amount would be paid by him after getting the ticket. But on Sunday, the ...

Candidates from diverse backgrounds chosen by parties for MCD polls

Several millionaires, a slum dweller, and a trans gender are among the candidates from diverse socio-economic backgrounds who have been hand-picked by the AAP, the BJP and the Congress for the high-stakes Delhi civic polls. Amid huge rush, all 750 candidates of the three major parties in Delhi filed their nominations on Monday. November 14 was the last day for filing nominations for the elections for 250 wards. One of the richest candidates in the fray is AAP's Babita who is contesting from Bakhtawarpur ward. She, along with her husband, owns immovable assets worth more than Rs 13 crore, according to her affidavit. Her movable assets are worth more than Rs 1.38 crore while her husband has more than Rs 81.35 lakh of such assets. She also owns two SUVs and gold worth Rs 25 lakh while her spouse has Rs 20 lakh worth of gold. Another AAP candidate -- Punardeep Singh Sawhney (41) -- son of Chandni Chowk MLA Parlad Singh Sawhney is contesting from the Chandni Chowk ward and owns immovabl

MCD polls: Hold padyatras, door-to-door campaigns, AAP tells candidates

The AAP on Monday instructed its MCD poll candidates to hold padyatras and door-to-door campaigns to reach out to voters ahead of the elections, party officials said. The directions were issued at a meeting of the party's 250 candidates that was presided over by Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai and AAP leaders Atishi and Durgesh Pathak also attended the meeting. At the meeting, the campaign strategy for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections and ways to put it into action were discussed, the officials said. Candidates were asked to hold padyatras, door-to-door campaigns and public meetings at the booth level. They were also directed to personally monitor preparations and reach out to the public, they said. "You have to conduct a dress rehearsal for a padyatra in advance. Every step should be well coordinated. You should hold four-five public meetings every day," Sisodia told the candidates. Rai, who is also the convenor of the

Delhi excise policy case: ED arrests AAP in-charge, Hyderabad businessman

The ED has arrested Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) communication in-charge Vijay Nair and businessman Abhishek Boinpally in connection with its ongoing money laundering probe into the Delhi Excise policy that was scraped following corruption allegations, official sources said Monday. The two are currently in judicial custody and lodged in jail here after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested them in the same case. While Nair was arrested by the CBI in September, Boinpally was apprehended last month. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) will seek the custody of the two from a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court on Monday, they said. The ED is investigating the money laundering angle of the case and the two will be confronted with the evidence gathered and statements recorded by other persons and accused involved in the formulation and implementation of the liquor policy, officials said. The agency has arrested Sameer Mahandru, promoter of liquor company Indospir

Delhi BJP demands FIR against Kejriwal in alleged scam of DJB funds

The Delhi BJP on Monday said an FIR should be registered against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the alleged Rs 20 crore scam in the Delhi Jal Board. Addressing a press conference here, Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said the alleged scam was exposed in 2018 when Kejriwal was the chairman of the DJB. "I believe this is a much bigger scam of Rs 200 crore. Even after it was exposed in 2018, when Kejriwal was the DJB chairman, instead of taking any action, the commission of the accused was raised," the BJP leader said. The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Saturday filed a case in connection with the embezzlement of DJB funds worth Rs 20 crore. Bidhuri questioned why the Delhi chief minister did not take any action in the matter when the alleged scam was exposed. It is alleged that Rs 20 crore collected in water bills from consumers was not deposited in the bank accounts of the DJB by the accused. Delhi LG V K Saxena in September directed the chief secre

BJP launches fresh attack on AAP and Sisodia, puts out 'Lootera' poster

BJP Spokesperson said that we have seen how Manish Sisodia tried to abuse his official position to suppress the liquor scam.

BJP govt delaying assembly polls in J&K to continue its proxy rule: AAP

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday alleged the BJP government was delaying the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir on one pretext or another to deny people their democratic rights. AAP leader Harsh Dev Singh said that while no initiative has been taken to install a popular government in Jammu and Kashmir, the administration seem to have been outsourced to bureaucrats, mostly from outside the Union Territory and having hardly any connect with the masses who are deprived of even basic amenities. "The BJP-led government was inventing one excuse after another to deny people their democratic rights and to continue its proxy rule," he told reporters in the Chenani area. Singh said the silence of the Centre and the Election Commission on Jammu and Kashmir while announcing the elections for Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat amply revealed the government's intention. Democracy has been reduced to a farce in Jammu and Kashmir with the political process having been rendered defunct and ...

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Aam Aadmi Party releases first list of 134 candidates for Delhi civic polls

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday released the first list of 134 candidates for the high-stakes Delhi civic polls. The names were announced following a long meeting of the Political Affairs Committee of the party. The list has more than 60 women candidates. Ninety per cent of the tickets have been awarded to AAP workers working at grassroots level, the party said in a statement. More than 20,000 workers had applied to get a ticket to contest the MCD polls, it said. Earlier in the day, the party had released its list of 30 star campaigners while it's national convener Arvind Kejriwal also released the party's 10 guarantees for the polls, that included clearing the three landfill sites, corruption-free MCD, among other points. The 250-ward Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) goes to polls on December 4 and the counting of votes will take place on December 7. The BJP has been in power in the MCD -- trifurcated in 2012 into north, south and east corporations and then unified this

AAP's 10 guarantees for MCD elections 'bundle of lies', says Congress

The Congress' Delhi unit on Friday called the AAP's "10 guarantees" for the MCD elections just another "bundle of lies" and said the Kejriwal government "fostered corruption" in the national capital, utilising every opportunity to make money. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had earlier in the day announced the AAP's 10 guarantees, including clearing the city's three landfill sites, ending corruption in the civic body and timely payment of salaries to employees, for the December 4 Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections. Congress state unit president Anil Chaudhary claimed that the promises to clear the land-fill mountains and ending corruption were akin to the "pot calling the kettle black". "The AAP government in Delhi was equally responsible for the three landfill mountains and corruption. In the last eight years, the Kejriwal government only fostered corruption in the national capital and utilised every opportunity to make money," he alleged. Chaudhary said the National Gr

Despite AAP's presence, Himachal's political battle between BJP, Congress

AAP, which is in the fray for the first time in the Assembly polls, has been missing from the state with its leaders focusing on strengthening its vote bank in another poll-bound Gujarat.

Gopal Rai launches AAP war room for MCD polls, predicts landslide victory

The AAP on Thursday launched the party's war room for the upcoming Municipal Corporation of Delhi election to monitor activities such as the nomination process, campaigning and social media campaign. The 250-ward Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) goes to polls on December 4 and the counting of votes will take place on December 7. The party's Delhi unit convener Gopal Rai launched the war room and predicted a landslide victory for the AAP. "This war room is being launched to intensify the party's preparations for the upcoming MCD elections. We will use this war room to monitor 10 activities related to the polls. "The first will be to track activities related to the 'Jan Samvaad', taking place in over 13,000 booths. It will look into issues of scheduling, prepare the list of speakers for these events and send out invitations to local residents," Rai said. The second activity that the war room will engage in is the nomination process. "We will create a team of lawyers that will e

If AAP wins MCD polls, garbage mountains will disappear in 5 yrs: Sisodia

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday said people will vote for the AAP in the upcoming municipal polls to clear the "garbage of the BJP" and if the Arvind Kejriwal-led party comes to power in the MCD, it will make the "mountains" of trash disappear from the city in five years. Sisodia said this while interacting with reporters after visiting the Ghazipur landfill site in east Delhi. Just to show that the height of the Ghazipur landfill has come down, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has taken garbage from it and dumped it in nearby areas, he alleged, adding that the saffron party lacks the intention to solve the problem. In the December 4 MCD election, people will vote for "jhadu" (the Aam Aadmi Party's poll symbol) to "clear the garbage of the BJP" for a clean Delhi, Sisodia said. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal himself is an engineer and makes meticulous plans, he said, adding that a plan has also been made to clear the mountai

Ahead of MCD polls, AAP assigns responsibilities to office bearers

Ahead of December 4 MCD elections, senior Aam Aadmi Party leaders, Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and party state Covenor and Minister Gopal Rai held a crucial meeting with MLAs on Tuesday

AAP declares 12 more candidates for upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday announced the names of 12 more candidates, including former Patidar quota leader Alpesh Kathiriya, for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections. The Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP, which has been trying to project itself as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) main contender in Gujarat, released its 11th list of candidates on Monday. With this, it has so far declared 130 candidates for polls to the 182-member Gujarat Assembly which will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5. The counting of votes will be taken up on December 8. Kathiriya has been given the ticket from the Patidar-dominated Varachha Road seat in Surat city, currently held by former minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Kishor Kanani. Kathiriya was a close aide of quota spearhead Hardik Patel, who joined the BJP earlier this year after quitting the Congress. Another Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leader Dharmik Malaviya has been chosen for the Olpad seat in Surat, a