Page 103 - Arvind Kejriwal

Arrest of Sisodia who heads most key depts puts Kejriwal govt in a spot

The Arvind Kejriwal government is staring at a possible crisis with the CBI arresting Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia who holds as many as 18 of the total 33 departments, including education, finance and home. The arrest of Sisodia comes after that of Satyendar Jain, Delhi's the then health minister, in June last year. Both have led what the Aam Aadmi Party describes as the successful transformation of Delhi's education and health services, contributing to the party's popularity and continued electoral success. Their absence leaves Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal with no heavyweight lieutenant to implement his governance agenda in Delhi. The immediate challenge for Kejriwal is to present the Delhi government budget as scheduled and find Sisodia's replacement. Sources in the Aam Aadmi Party said Revenue Minister Kailash Gahlot may present the Delhi government budget for the next financial year. "As there was a possibility that the deputy chief minister may be arrested by the CB

Manish Sisodia is innocent, his arrest is dirty politics: CM Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said the arrest of his deputy, Manish Sisodia, by the CBI is dirty politics and asserted that he was innocent. Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Sisodia was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Sunday evening in connection with alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped excise policy for 2021-22. "Manish is innocent. His arrest is dirty politics. His arrest has angered people quite a lot. People are watching everything. People now understand everything and will give a reply to this. It will boost our spirit and our struggle will only get stronger," Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi. Sisodia was arrested after nearly eight hours of questioning as his answers were not satisfactory, officials said. The AAP leader arrived at the CBI headquarters around 11.12 am for the second round of questioning. The AAP leader, the accused number one in the CBI FIR, was first questioned on October 17.

Policy matters cannot become mechanism for arrest, say experts on Sisodia

In a big setback for Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Manish Sisodia has been arrested by the CBI

Kejriwal, Mann meets Sisodia's family members after his arrest by CBI

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann visited Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia's residence to meet his family members after the CBI arrested the AAP leader on Sunday. The Delhi deputy chief minister was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped excise policy for 2021-22. Mann slammed the BJP for the arrest of Sisodia, saying the move was an "insult" to the education that lakhs of children are getting in Delhi. "The arrest of Manish Sisodia is actually an insult to the education of lakhs of children of Delhi..Sending the one who builds schools to jail is part of the BJP's agenda," Mann charged in a tweet in Hindi. Earlier in the day when Sisodia was on his way to the CBI headquarters, Kejriwal had tweeted, "We will take care of your family, Manish. Don't worry.

Delhi Police registers case over ruckus between AAP, BJP councillors

A case has been registered in connection with the ruckus between Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillors outside the Civic Centre, police said

Punjab's glory of development will be visible in next 6-7 months: CM Mann

Days after a clash between supporters of the chief of suspected pro-Khalistan outfit 'Waris Punjab De' Amritpal Singh and Punjab Police erupted in Ajnala, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday

Don't throw your onions away, AAP govts in Punjab, Delhi will procure: Mann

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday assured farmers in Gujarat's Bhavnagar that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) governments in Punjab and Delhi will buy their onions by sending a train so that they do not have to face losses amid the prevailing situation wherein this kitchen staple is fetching low prices from traders. Several farmers from Bhavnagar district met Mann at the circuit house here and urged him to find a solution to their problem as prices have hit rock bottom due to a bumper yield. Talking to farmers outside Bhavnagar circuit house to understand their issue, Mann asked AAP's Gujarat unit president Isudan Gadhvi to take details from farmers so that the party can raise this issue in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha in the upcoming Parliament session next month. "I am also a farmer's son so I understand your pain. Please do not destroy your crop. I will inquire about onion demand in Punjab and Delhi and then lift the stock from here. We will send a train to transport your ...

I pray to God that you come out of jail soon: Kejriwal to Sisodia

"If I will spend a few months in jail, I don't care. We are followers of Bhagat Singh. He (Bhagat Singh) even chose to be hanged," Sisodia tweeted

Finland the final word in education? Here's why experts disagree

In Finland, teachers too are largely free from external requirements such as inspection and standardised testing

ED questions Delhi CM Kejriwal's PA in excise policy money laundering case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday questioned Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's PA Bibhav Kumar in the money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy, officials said. Kumar deposed before the federal probe agency here and the investigators are recording his statement under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said. His questioning is understood to be related to the ED's charges made before the court that at least 36 accused, including Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Bibhav Kumar, "destroyed or used" 170 phones to conceal evidence of "kickbacks" worth thousand of crores of rupees in the alleged scam. The ED, till now, has filed two charge sheets or prosecution complaints in this case and has arrested a total of nine people. The ED has alleged in a charge sheet submitted to the court that a part of the alleged Rs 100 crore "kickbacks" generated in the scrapped Delhi excise policy were ..

Win of Delhi people, defeat of 'hooliganism': Kejriwal on mayoral poll win

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday congratulated the people of Delhi over AAP councilor Shelly Oberoi's win in the mayoral poll and hit out at the BJP saying the public won and the "goons" were defeated. Oberoi defeated BJP councilor Rekha Gupta by 34 votes in the election to the top post in the first meeting of newly elected Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) . "The goons lost, the public won. In the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the people of Delhi won and hooliganism was defeated. Congratulations to the people of Delhi on Shelly Oberoi being elected mayor," Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi without naming anyone. The election of mayor took place in the backdrop of a Supreme Court order recently ruling against voting rights of 10 aldermen appointed by the Lt Governor VK Saxena. Previous three attempts to elect Delhi mayor were fruitless with the AAP and BJP fighting it out in the MCD House meetings over the issue of appointment of protem mayor and aldermen.

Good to know that Delhi LG finally held meet over law and order: Kejriwal

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday expressed his approval to Lt Governor VK Saxena meeting deputy commissioners of Delhi Police over law and order situation in the city. In a Hindi tweet, Kejriwal claimed the law and order situation in Delhi has "deteriorated very much" in the last one year and the LG should hold such meetings more frequently. "The law and order in Delhi has deteriorated very much in the last one year. It felt good to know that the LG finally held a meeting over law and order. The LG should pay attention on law and order and hold such meetings frequently," the chief minister tweeted. Saxena on Tuesday said the recent Kanjhawla hit-and-drag incident and the Shraddha Walkar murder case exhibit a "glaring lacuna" in policing at the field level and urged the DCPs to rectify it. Addressing the DCPs' conference at the Delhi Police headquarters here, the LG also flagged a host of issues, including corruption, high-handedness of police and investigation loopholes.

Delhi govt to plant 5.2 mn trees and shrubs in mega drive beginning Feb 26

The Delhi government will plant 52 lakh trees and shrubs in the city during its mega plantation drive beginning February 26. The city government usually starts the drive in the monsoon, but the large number of trees demanded an early start, Environment Minister Gopal Rai said at a press conference here. He also asked all agencies concerned to get a third-party audit of the tree plantation done in 2021, 2022 and 2023. The minister said the AAP government will also set up a panel to conduct site suitability analysis before taking up the plantation exercise to improve survival rate of the saplings. Rai said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will launch the plantation drive from a location near Shastri Park. "A total of 52 lakh trees, including 25 lakh shrubs, will be planted in Delhi this year. The Delhi forest department will plant 12 trees and 6 lakh shrubs this year," he said, A total of 47 lakh trees and shrubs were planted last year as against the target of 42 lakh.

DMRC to handover feeder e-buses to Delhi govt from April onwards: Official

Delhi Metro will start handing over its fleet of 100 feeder e-buses to the city government from April, a senior official said on Tuesday. At present, these e-buses are running on six routes in the city. "The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) will handover all the buses to the Delhi government from April 2023 onwards," the DMRC official told PTI. These 100 e-buses are the first fleet of electric buses deployed by Delhi Metro in the city, he said. Feeder buses are services to provide last-mile connectivity, and even DMRC smart cards are accepted for payment of fare charges. DMRC officials had in July last year said that running Delhi Metro feeder buses in inner areas was less viable due to under utilisation. Plan was that DMRC feeders buses would be taken up by the Delhi government's transport department for operations, they had said. Late December last year, officials had said that the Delhi government would soon take over the DMRC's fleet of electric buses to strengthen last-m

Sisodia's claims on shuffling PWD secretaries false, misleading, says LG

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia's claims that secretaries in the PWD being regularly transferred are "habitually false and misleading" and exhibit "utter lack of knowledge of procedures"

Delhi riots: SC refuses to interfere in AAP leader Tahir Hussain's case

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to interfere with the framing of charges against former AAP leader Tahir Hussain under anti-money laundering law in connection with the 2020 northeast Delhi riots. A bench headed by Justice V Ramasubramanian said at the stage of framing of charges, a court cannot get into details, which is to be seen at a later stage. The case is at the stage of framing of charges under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Therefore we do not see reasons to interfere at this stage. It is made clear that the (trial) court will follow the law laid down by this court, said the bench also comprising Justice Pankaj Mithal. The top court was hearing the ex-councillor's appeal against the Delhi High Court order rejecting his petition which challenged the trial court order for framing charges against him under Sections 3 (offence of money laundering) and 4 (punishment for the offence of money laundering) of PMLA. Senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy, representing t

Delhi L-G approves medical boards to deal with surrogacy-related issues

Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena has approved the formation of medical boards in all 11 districts of the city for dealing with matters related to the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021, Raj Niwas officials said on Monday. The Act was notified by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on December 25, 2021. Section 4(iii) of the Act states that no surrogacy or surrogacy procedure shall be conducted, undertaken, performed or initiated without the intending couple possessing a certificate issued by the appropriate authority (district medical board) specifying the need for gestational surrogacy. "However, constitution of the district medical boards (DMBs) was kept pending by the Delhi government ever since the regulation was notified by the central government, which forced intending beneficiaries to approach court," an official said. The DMBs will be headed by the chief medical officer or chief civil surgeon or joint director of health services of the district serving as chairperso

No liquor scam in Delhi, excise policy case political vendetta: Kejriwal

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has asserted that there was no "liquor scam" in Delhi and that the case over his government's excise policy was created as a result of "political vendetta and conspiracy" ahead of his deputy Manish Sisodia's questioning by the CBI slated for Sunday. Reacting to Kejriwal's assertion, Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva wondered why did the AAP government scrap the excise policy if there was no scam in it. The Excise Policy 2021-22 was withdrawn by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government last year after a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe was recommended by Delhi Lieutenant Governor (LG) VK Saxena into "violation of norms and lapses". Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, Kejriwal said his government will fully cooperate with the CBI's investigation into the alleged irregularities in the implementation of the now-scrapped Excise Policy 2021-22. "First of all, there is no such thing as a liquor scam. We formulated the best and most ...

CM Kejriwal recommends LG to hold Delhi mayoral election on Feb 22

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday recommended to Lt Governor V K Saxena that the mayoral election be held on February 22. This comes a day after the Supreme Court ordered issuance of a notice within 24 hours for convening the first meeting of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to fix the date of election for mayor, deputy mayor and members of the Standing Committee. In a shot in the arm for the ruling AAP, the apex court on Friday also held that members nominated by the LG to the MCD cannot vote to elect the mayor. "Recommended MCD Mayor elections to be held on 22 Feb," Kejriwal said in a tweet. According to the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) Act, 1957, the mayor and the deputy mayor are to be elected in the very first session of the House after the civic polls. However, it's been over two months since the municipal elections were held on December 4 and Delhi is yet to get a mayor. The MCD could not elect the mayor on three previous occasions amid tumult as

Kejriwal asks officials to expedite installation of reverse osmosis plants

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday directed officials to expedite the work related to the installation of 1,000 reverse osmosis plants in unauthorised colonies and around 260 tubewells in Palla, Bhalswa and other locations to boost water supply. At a review meeting with senior officials, the chief minister said several water supply augmentation projects are stuck due to design and land-related issues. The government has also decided against charging a fee for new water connections in unauthorised colonies, a statement said. The Delhi government plans to install 1,000 RO systems with tubewells in unauthorised colonies in east and northeast Delhi to avoid inconvenience to people who depend on water tankers in such areas, it said. The RO plants will be installed on land belonging to DUSIB, DDA and other government agencies after obtaining a no-objection certificate with the help of RWA or elected representatives. Thirty RO plants of 50,000 litres a day capacity are being