Page 71 - Arvind Kejriwal

Kejriwal replies to ED, says summons politically motivated, illegal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has sent his reply to the ED summons, calling them illegal and politically motivated, AAP sources said on Thursday. Kejriwal was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate for questioning in the excise policy-linked money laundering case on Thursday. However, he left for an undisclosed location for a 10-day Vipassana meditation course on Wednesday. "Kejriwal called the fresh summons politically motivated and illegal. In his reply, he said that he has lived his life through transparency and honesty and has nothing to hide. He said he is ready to accept any legal summons," sources said, citing his reply. Kejriwal was scheduled to leave for the Vipassana course on Tuesday but could not do so as he was busy with the INDIA bloc meeting. He left at around 1.30 pm on Wednesday for the pre-scheduled meditation course, officials said. The Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday questioned the timing of the summons, saying the party's lawyers are studying the notice and

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Kejriwal leaves for 10-day Vipassana session; to skip ED questioning

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, summoned by the ED for questioning on December 21, left for an undisclosed location for a 10-day Vipassana meditation course on Wednesday, officials said. The Enforcement Directorate on Monday issued fresh summons to the Delhi chief minister for questioning in the excise policy-linked money laundering case. Kejriwal was scheduled to leave for the Vipassana course on Tuesday but could not do so as he was busy with the INDIA bloc meeting, officials said. He left at around 1.30 pm on Wednesday for the pre-scheduled meditation course, they added. The Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday questioned the timing of the summons, saying the party's lawyers are studying the notice and "legally correct" steps will be taken. They said Kejriwal's Vipassana session was "pre-scheduled" and the information was in the public domain. "Everyone knows the chief minister is leaving for Vipassana on December 19. He regularly goes for this meditation course. It's a pre-schedu

Mallikarjun Kharge as INDIA bloc PM face? Here's what leaders have to say

Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal proposed Mallikarjun Kharge's name as the INDIA bloc's prime ministerial candidate

Mamata, Kejriwal suggest Cong chief Kharge as INDIA bloc's PM face

Cong chief rejects suggestion, says bloc should win first

Mamata, Kejriwal back Kharge as INDIA bloc's PM face, Cong chief responds

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday proposed Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's name as the prime ministerial candidate of opposition bloc INDIA, but the veteran Congress leader said it is important to win first and everything else can be decided later. Sources, however, said there was no final decision on the issue. After his name was proposed as a candidate to become the country's first Dalit prime minister at a meeting attended by 28 opposition leaders here, Kharge said, "I work for the downtrodden. Let's win first, then we will see. I don't seek anything." MDMK leader Vaiko said after the meeting that Kharge's name was proposed by Banerjee and Kejriwal.

We'll not be scared by threats.: Atishi on ED's fresh summon to CM Kejriwal

Hitting out at the BJP, Atishi said that the party fears Arvind Kejriwal's model of governance that's the reason why the leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party are being sent to jail

Excise policy case fake, bogus: AAP after ED summons Arvind Kejriwal

The Aam Aadmi Party Monday dubbed the excise policy case fake and bogus after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate for questioning on December 21 in a related money laundering case. Talking to reporters, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak said their lawyers are studying the notice. "Anybody who questions Prime Minister Narendra Modi gets suspended or arrested. Modi fears and hates Arvind Kejriwal. Modiji is most scared by Kejriwal's politics and his Delhi model of governance. This is a bogus and fake case," he told reporters. Kejriwal is scheduled to go to an undisclosed place to attend a 10-day Vipassana meditation course from Tuesday. "Our lawyers are studying the notice and we will see what has to be done," he added.

Arvind Kejriwal issued fresh summons by ED in Delhi excise policy case

The Enforcement Directorate has issued a fresh summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for questioning on December 21 in the excise policy-linked money laundering case, officials said Monday. He was first called by the federal agency to appear on November 2, but he did not depose alleging that the notice was "vague, motivated and unsustainable in law". The summons to Kejriwal, the national convenor of AAP, pertain to questioning in the alleged Delhi excise policy case and for recording his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the officials said. It is alleged that the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22 to grant licences to liquor traders allowed cartelisation and favoured certain dealers who had allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge repeatedly refuted by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The policy was subsequently scrapped and the Delhi lieutenant governor recommended a CBI probe, following which the ED registered a case under the PMLA. Delhi

AAP lists pro-farmer policy in response to BJP's memorandum to CM Kejriwal

This is the first government to award Rs 50,000 per hectare as crop compensation during crop damage universally to all farmers, and this is the highest among all states in the country, AAP said

Delhi govt working on cabinet note for MoU with NCRTC for 2 RRTS corridors

The Arvind Kejriwal government is working on a cabinet note to strike an understanding with the NCRTC for the construction of Delhi-Alwar and Delhi-Panipat Rapid Rail Transit System, or RRTS, corridors, officials said on Saturday. The Transport department of Delhi government has floated a draft cabinet note for an amendment to the Delhi-Shahjahanpur-Neemrana-Behror, or Delhi-SNB, corridor a stretch of Alwar corridor - seeking comments from Planning, Law, and Finance departments, said a senior government officer. The signing of an MoU with the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) on the two corridors can be taken up after the projects are approved by the Cabinet, he said. BJP MLA Vijender Gupta had on Friday raised the issue of Delhi-Panipat and Delhi-Alwar projects in the winter session of Delhi Assembly, and accused the AAP government of making excuses to obstruct these projects. Gupta had also in October written to the Lt Governor raising the matter. In reply t

Kejriwal's plea on his prosecution in PM degree defamation case rejected

A metropolitan court here on Friday rejected Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's plea challenging his prosecution in a defamation case over his remarks regarding Prime Minister Narendra Modi's educational degree, saying no prior sanction from government was needed to proceed against him as argued by the defendant. Through his plea, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader had argued that he cannot be prosecuted without prior government sanction as he is a public servant as per the law. The court of additional chief metropolitan magistrate SJ Panchal rejected Kejriwal's plea, saying no such sanction was required, and kept the matter for further hearing on December 28. On December 13, the AAP convener had filed an application before Panchal's court challenging his prosecution in the matter on the grounds that since he is a public servant, sanction for prosecution should have been obtained under section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). Under section 197 of the CrPC, prior ...

CM Kejriwal flags off 500 electric buses in Delhi taking total to 1,300

Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal flagged off 500 electric buses here on Thursday, taking the number of such buses in the national capital to 1,300. In a post on 'X', Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said no other city in the country has so many electric buses plying. "Delhi will now have maximum number of electric buses in the country," he said. As many as 800 electric buses have been plying on Delhi roads since January 2022. These buses have covered a distance of more than 42 million kilometres and cut more than 34,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide so far, an official said. By 2025, Delhi will have a total of 10,480 buses with electric ones making up 80 per cent of the fleet. This will help cut 4.67 lakh tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, according to the official. The new buses are disabled-friendly, air-conditioned, emit zero smoke and noise, and are equipped with GPS, CCTVs and panic buttons.

RRTS project: SC grants a week's time to Delhi govt to transfer funds

The Supreme Court on Wednesday expressed its displeasure over the delay on the part of the Delhi government in providing funds for the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridors and granted it a week's time to transfer the money. The RRTS project entails semi-high-speed rail corridors connecting Delhi to Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, Alwar in Rajasthan and Panipat in Haryana. "You will make me reactivate my earlier order," Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, who was heading the bench that also comprised Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia, told the Delhi government counsel. The apex court had on November 21 pulled up the Delhi government for not providing funds for the project and said that funds allocated for advertisement purposes should be transferred to the project. "At the request of the counsel for Delhi government, we keep this order in abeyance for a period of one week and if the funds are not transferred, the order will come into operation," the bench had said in its order passed last ...

Delhi to create separate budget head for funds to NCRTC for RRTS project

The Delhi government will create a separate head in its Budget Estimate for allocation of funds to the NCRTC for the RRTS project, days after the Supreme Court came down heavily on it for not coming up with funds for the rapid transit corridors to Alwar and Panipat. The city government released Rs 415 crore to the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) for the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) project following the top court's rap. According to an official, the Delhi government's transport department had not allocated funds for the project under any budget head in 2023-24. "The allocation of funds to the RRTS project was nowhere mentioned in the Budget Estimate that was sent before the budget and even in the subsequent discussions between the finance and the transport departments. It meant that it was completely missed," said the official. In order to avoid such a recurrence, the finance department has directed the transport department to keep a budget head for th

Kejriwal, CM Mann launch scheme in Punjab to deliver services at doorstep

AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann launched the "Bhagwant Mann Sarkar Tuhade Dwar" scheme, aimed at providing citizen-centric services to people at their doorstep, on Sunday. Under the scheme, people will get 43 services, including issuance of certificates of birth, marriage, death, income, residence, caste, rural area, border area, backward area, pension, payment of electricity bills and land demarcation. Addressing a gathering here after the launch of the scheme, Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal said it is a historic day not only for Punjab, but also for the country. "The work that is going to commence in Punjab is not less than any revolution. It is a revolutionary step," said Kejriwal, who was accompanied by Mann. "You do not need to go to offices. Your work will be done at your doorstep," he added. Kejriwal said as many as 43 government services will be delivered at the doorstep of people. He said to avail these services, people will h

Day after Delhi LG recalls files, Gahlot loses law portfolio to Atishi

Kailash Gahlot was divested of the Law and Justice portfolio in the AAP government on Friday, a day after LG V K Saxena recalled files related to judicial infrastructure and administration in the city as they remained pending with him for months, officials said. They said the Chief Minister's Office wrote to the LG office recommending to assign the charge of the law ministry to Atishi and it has received Saxena's nod. The AAP government has not officially responded to queries. With this change, the number of portfolios held by Atishi has increased to 14, the highest among the ministers of the Kejriwal government. Earlier in October, she was handed over the charge of water department. In June, Atishi was given charge of the Revenue, Planning and the Finance Departments, the portfolios earlier held by Gahlot. Gahlot now holds the charge of Transport, Home, Administrative Reforms and Information Technology departments. Saxena on Thursday recalled files related to courts, judicial .

Kejriwal directs audit of DJB by CAG amid allegations of financial bungling

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said an audit of the Delhi Jal Board's records by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has been ordered to ascertain whether there has been any irregularity. Interacting with reporters, he warned that there could be a water and sewage crisis in Delhi in the coming days owing to the non-release of funds. A couple of weeks ago, Delhi Water Minister Atishi had claimed the national capital was staring at a 'man-made water crisis' due to the stoppage of funds to the Delhi Jal Board by the finance department and demanded Lt Governor V K Saxena's immediate intervention in the matter. Kejriwal, on Wednesday, said, "We have ordered a CAG audit of the last 15 years of records of the Delhi Jal Board. CAG is a third party and the biggest agency in the country. Things will become clearer now." "If someone has committed irregularities, they should be punished. If no irregularities have been committed, then those who level baseless allegations will

AAP launches 'Mai Bhi Kejriwal' signature campaign for citizen feedback

The AAP on Friday launched the 'Mai Bhi Kejriwal' signature campaign to get people's feedback on whether Arvind Kejriwal should resign as Delhi chief minister if he is arrested under a "conspiracy by the BJP". Earlier this month, the Enforcement Directorate had summoned Kejriwal for questioning in a money laundering case linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam. The chief minister did not appear before the central agency, claiming that its summons was "illegal and politically motivated". "The 'Main Bhi Kejriwal' signature campaign has been launched today. Under it, people's opinion is being taken on the way AAP leaders are being arrested, and if Arvind Kejriwal is arrested, whether he should resign or continue to run the government from jail," party leader Gopal Rai told reporters. The Aam Aadmi Party's Delhi state convener also interacted with locals during the campaign launched from East Delhi's Laxmi Nagar assembly constituency. "There is immense anger among the people ...

Kejriwal to meet rat-hole miners from Delhi who saved 41 tunnel workers

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will meet the rat-hole mining experts from Delhi who participated in the operation to rescue the 41 workers trapped in Silkyara tunnel, officials said on Friday. The workers got trapped inside the tunnel in Uttarakhand after a portion of it collapsed. They were rescued on Tuesday following 17 days of a multi-agency operation. The 12-member team of rat-hole mining experts were called to do the drilling after an American auger machine came across hurdles while clearing the rubble. According to officials, some of them are involved in laying sewer lines and pipelines for the Delhi Jal Board. "Kejriwal will meet them later in the day," an official said. Rat-hole mining involves digging of narrow tunnels, usually 3-4 feet high, for workers to enter and extract coal. The horizontal tunnels are often termed "rat holes", as each just about fits one person. At the Silkyara tunnel, the 12 experts were called by Trenchless Engineering Services Pvt Ltd and