Page 61 - Delhi

Unemployment, infra, corruption-free nation key issues for Delhi voters

From employment, inflation, better roads infrastructure, clean drinking water, women safety, education, health care services to corruption free India -- myriad of issues dominated the minds of voters when they stepped out to exercise their franchise. The seven Lok Sabha constituencies of Delhi went to polling on Saturday. A two way fight between the BJP and an alliance between the Congress and the AAP as part of the INDIA bloc is being played out in the capital. Visuals from the polling booths showed people of all ages flocking the centres while braving the sweltering heat in the city to exercise their right. "I feel proud to have carried out my democratic duty. I was the first voter in my booth and also was given a certificate by the District Election officer as a mark of appreciation," said Sunil Kumar Jha, who was the first one to cast his booth in New Delhi constituency's Gole Market. "I have voted on the issue of development," he added while appreciating the facilities and ..

Lok Sabha polls 2024 Phase 6: Over 49% voter turnout recorded till 3 pm

Lok Sabha elections 2024: Sixth phase will see voting in 58 of 543 Lok Sabha constituencies, including all seven seats in Delhi

LS elections: Left leaders cast vote in Delhi, say 'democracy at stake'

Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, polit bureau members Brinda Karat and Prakash Karat and Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Annie Raja were among the Left leaders who cast their votes in Delhi on Saturday and appealed to voters to exercise their franchise. The Left leaders also expressed confidence in the Opposition INDIA alliance emerging victorious in the ongoing polls. Talking to PTI after casting his vote at Delhi's Vasant Kunj, Yechury said: "I voted for India, for my country. I voted for democracy, unity of my country and my Constitution. The people of India will win. Therefore India will win. That is what I hope, I expect, and am sure of," Yechury told PTI. "The prime minister of India himself, every day he speaks only to sharpen communal polarisation... The Election Commission has to take cognisance. Unfortunately, it is not doing so. But the people of India are opposing it," he said. Annie Raja, who is in the fray from Kerala's Wayan

Lok Sabha polls 2024 Phase 6: Over 25.76% voter turnout recorded till 11 am

Sixth phase will see voting in 58 of 543 Lok Sabha constituencies, including all seven seats in Delhi

Court convicts Medha Patkar in defamation case filed by Delhi L-G Saxena

A Delhi court on Friday convicted Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar in a defamation case lodged against her by V K Saxena, the incumbent lieutenant governor of the national capital. Metropolitan Magistrate Raghav Sharma found Patkar guilty of criminal defamation. Under the relevant law, the activist may get a jail term of two years or fine or both as the punishment. Patkar and Saxena have been locked in a legal battle since 2000 after she filed a suit against him for publishing advertisements against her and the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA). Saxena was then the chief of Ahmedabad-based NGO National Council for Civil Liberties. Saxena had also filed two cases against her for making derogatory remarks against him on a TV channel and issuing a defamatory press statement.

Delhi Lok Sabha elections 2024: What's open, what's closed on May 25

Lok Sabha elections: Delhi is gearing up for the sixth phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, scheduled for Saturday, May 25

15.2 mn voters to exercise their franchise at 13,641 booths in Delhi: CEO

Reiterating that double voting chances are less, the CEO said that all adequate steps have been taken to avoid these kinds of incidents

EC partners with Rapido, Zomato, Swiggy to encourage voter turnout in Delhi

Delhi Chief Electoral Officer P Krishnamurthy said on Thursday that over one lakh polling personnel have been deployed for the conduct of polls on May 25 while several steps have been taken to protect people from the intense heat wave. Highlighting special initiatives to enhance the voting experience, he said they have set up 70 pink polling stations across Delhi, one in each assembly constituency, which will be entirely operated by women polling staff, according to a statement. Additionally, 70 model polling stations will feature enhanced facilities. For the first time, each parliamentary constituency will have a polling station fully staffed by persons with disabilities (PwD), he added. "We have meticulously planned and executed all aspects of election management, including manpower, logistics and transport management," he said. He emphasised that based on the directives from the Election Commission and the IMD forecast of an intense heat wave, comprehensive measures have been ..

LS polls: 60,000 personnel, cameras to ensure peaceful voting in Delhi

With 60,000 personnel, including 51 companies of paramilitary forces and 13,500 home guards from Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, and drones and CCTV cameras, the Delhi Police is all prepared to conduct the Lok Sabha polls in the city. The voting for all seven Lok Sabha seats of Delhi is scheduled on May 25 in the second last phase of the elections. These seven seats include East Delhi, New Delhi, North East Delhi, North West Delhi, South Delhi, West Delhi and Chandani Chowk. Deputy Commissioner of Police (election cell) Sanjay Sehrawat told PTI that an elaborate arrangement has been made to ensure peaceful elections in the national capital. Around 60,000 police personnel will be deployed in Delhi on the polling day and at least 33,000 of them will be guarding voting centres, DCP Sehrawat said. "There are a total of 2,628 voting centres of which 429 are sensitive. Extra paramilitary personnel with drones and CCTV cameras will be deployed in these sensitive poll centres,"

Volume up: Elections songs connect candidates with voters, boosts campaign

From singing the praises of candidates' roots and family legacies to highlighting their personality traits, playful campaign songs have struck a chord with voters here this election season with their liberal use of catchy phrases in locals dialects. The dialects and languages used in these songs -- from Hindi and Bhojpuri to Haryanvi and Punjabi -- are reflective of the linguistic and cultural diversities of the national capital, inhabited by people from all parts of the country. "Phir se Modiji ki sarkar dekhna chahusu" (want to see a Modi government once again) is one such Haryanvi song renting the air at the rallies of BJP candidates. Underlining the progress achieved under the Modi government, BJP bigwigs have got composed several songs that also talk abut their roots and their family background. Bansuri Swaraj, the BJP's New Delhi candidate and the daughter of the late party stalwart Sushma Swaraj, has also got a song composed that pays tributes to her mother and launches a ..

Massive crowd gathers at PM Modi's rally as Delhi sizzles at 43.4 deg C

Donning saffron clothes, a massive crowd from across Delhi and neighbouring areas braved the summer heat to gather at the BJP's poll rally site in Dwarka here on Wednesday well in advance to listen to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Ankush Kumar, a resident of Gurgaon in Haryana where polling would be held in the sixth phase on May 25 along with Delhi, said that he reached the rally site, close to Sector 14 Dwarka Metro Station, around 2 pm. "I came here just to see the prime minister," he said. The national capital on Wednesday recorded a maximum temperature of 43.4 degrees Celsius, three notches above the season's average, and remained in the 'Yellow' alert zone. Chants of "Modi, Modi" and "Jai Shree Ram" rent the air while many, including women, danced to drum beats as the prime minister reached the stage around 6.15 pm. They waved their mobiles with flashlights on while chanting "Modi ji ko Jai Shree Ram" and "Abki baar 400 paar" to greet Modi. "Not only from Delhi, people have

Water shortage due to AAP's corruption, inaction, says Delhi BJP president

Delhi Cabinet Minister Atishi on Wednesday alleged the BJP has hatched a "new conspiracy" to target AAP and through its Haryana government has stopped water supply to the national capital. Addressing a press conference, Atishi, who is also the water minister, said the BJP has been hatching conspiracies to target AAP ever since the Lok Sabha polls were announced. "Within five days of the announcement of Lok Sabha polls, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested so that the AAP could not campaign in the polls. After he came out on interim bail, they used the party's Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal to frame him but even that plan did not work, Atishi said. "Then they raked up the old issue of foreign funding to the party and now through their Haryana government, the BJP has stopped the supply of Yamuna water to Delhi," she alleged. Responding to Atishi's allegations, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said, "Fearing its defeat in the Lok Sabha polls, the AAP has come out with

Man behind graffiti targeting Delhi CM Kejriwal arrested from UP's Bareilly

The Delhi Police on Wednesday arrested a 33-year-old man from Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly for allegedly drawing anti-Arvind Kejriwal graffiti at stations of Delhi Metro and inside its coaches, an officer said. The person who wrote the messages and posted the photographs on his Instagram account has been identified as Ankit Goel, the officer said. On Monday, several pictures of the graffiti targeting the Delhi Chief Minister went viral on social media, eliciting a sharp condemnation from the Aam Aadmi Party. Soon after, a CCTV video of the act also surfaced online, showing a man writing on the wall of a metro station. Goel, who is a loan manager in a government bank in Bareilly, came to Delhi, wrote the messages and returned to his city, the officer said. Goel told police he was earlier an AAP supporter, but he became disaffected due to the "recent developments" in the party, the officer said. The messages scribbled inside metro trains and at stations were shared through the Instagra

BJP wants to create water crisis, supply from Yamuna blocked: Atishi

Delhi Cabinet Minister Atishi on Wednesday alleged the BJP has hatched a "new conspiracy" to target AAP and through its Haryana government has stopped water supply to the national capital. There was no immediate reaction from the BJP Or Haryana government. Addressing a press conference, Atishi, who is also the Water minister, said the BJP has been hatching conspiracies to target AAP ever since the Lok Sabha polls were announced. "Within five days of the announcement of Lok Sabha polls, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested so that the AAP could not campaign in the polls. After he came out on interim bail, they used the party's Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal to frame him but even that plan did not work, Atishi said. "Then they raked up the old issue of foreign funding to the party and now through their Haryana government, the BJP has stopped the supply of Yamuna water to Delhi," she alleged. Atishi said the matter came to light after they started receiving complaints of w

LS polls: Water shortage, drainage, traffic jams key issues in South Delhi

Sitting in the hot summer sun with two empty jerry cans, 26-year-old Rajneesh Kumar waits for a water tanker to arrive due to the erratic water supply at his house in south Delhi's Sangam Vihar -- a crisis that has become a part of life for the last 12 years. Apart from water scarcity, traffic snarls, lack of parking space and poor drainage system are among the other issues plaguing the South Delhi constituency, according to local residents. Voting will be held on May 25 for all the seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital. While political parties are seeking votes on issues like Ram temple, corruption, unemployment and inflation, the locals said the candidates should instead focus on ensuring basic amenities and addressing civic issues. "My father bought this house 25 years ago. When I was a child, there was no water shortage but as I grew, water crisis became a part of our life," Kumar, a resident of F Block in Sangam Vihar said. "For the last 10 years, we have been depende

Baggage delivery time at 6 major airports improves significantly: MoCA

The baggage delivery time at Delhi, Mumbai and four other major airports has improved significantly in the last four months, with more than 90 per cent of the passengers getting their baggage arriving within 30 minutes of an aircraft landing, according to the civil aviation ministry. The ministry has also advised all domestic and international airlines operating at other airports to improve baggage delivery timings. In January, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) started an exercise to boost the baggage delivery system of the domestic airlines at the country's six major airports -- Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. The exercise under the aegis of the civil aviation ministry was started after it was noticed that baggage was getting delivered late after the landing of a plane. As per the global standards prescribed by IATA (International Air Transport Association) and the provision under the OMDA (Operation, Management and Development Agreement) with

Mercury again breaches 47 deg C in Delhi; 'red alert' issued for heatwave

Temperatures in several parts of Delhi again breached the 47 degrees Celsius mark on Monday, with the weather office issuing a 'red alert' for the next five days due to heatwave to severe heatwave conditions in the national capital. The searing heat pushed the city's peak power demand to its highest for May, while the Delhi government directed the schools that have not closed for summer vacations to do so with immediate effect. Delhi has been seeing a steady rise in temperature in recent days, culminating in the highest temperature recorded this summer on Sunday when the overall temperature reached 44.4 degrees Celsius. Saturday's temperature was 43.6 degrees Celsius, up from 42.5 degrees Celsius on Friday. On Monday the national capital experienced the second-highest maximum temperature, 3.7 degrees above normal. Najafgarh recorded a high of 47.4 degrees Celsius on Monday, a day after the southwest Delhi area had recorded 47.8 degrees Celsius -- the highest in the country so far t

Swati Maliwal called me out of sheer anguish: Delhi LG condemns AAP

Lieutenant Governor of Delhi V K Saxena expressed disappointment on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's silence on the issue of women's safety

In a first, Uber gets aggregator licence to operate buses in Delhi

Ride hailing app Uber has received an aggregator licence by the Delhi Transport Department to operate buses in the national capital under the Delhi premium Bus Scheme, the company said in a statement. Delhi becomes the first state to award a licence for bus operations and Uber becomes the first aggregator to be granted a licence under the Delhi Premium Bus scheme, the statement said. "Following a successful pilot programme, where we witnessed significant demand for buses, we are thrilled to officially introduce the convenience of Uber rides to buses in Delhi," Uber Shuttle India head Amit Deshpande said. Customers will be able to pre-book seats on their preferred route by choosing the 'Uber Shuttle' option on the Uber app. The formal launch of Uber Shuttle, a bus service tailored for daily commuting needs, brings to fruition a pilot programme that was initially tested in Delhi-NCR and has been operational in Kolkata since last year under an MoU with the West Bengal government, as p

ED moves court against Kejriwal, seeks extension of his judicial custody

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is currently out of prison on interim bail and is expected to surrender on June 2