Page 17 - Aap

BJP vs AAP in Ghazipur after CM Arvind Kejriwal visits landfill site

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday visited the Ghazipur landfill site and launched a scathing attack on the BJP for the 'garbage mountain' ahead of the MCD elections

Firmly oppose language used for CM: AAP slams Delhi LG over Chhath Puja row

After Delhi LG Vinai Kumar Saxena cautioned CM Kejriwal against "misleading" and "premature publicity" regarding 'Chhath Puja', AAP on Thursday hit back objecting to the language used for the CM

BJP terms Delhi property tax amnesty scheme announced by LG 'historic step'

Delhi BJP leaders on Wednesday termed the property tax amnesty scheme announced by Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena as 'a historic step'.

Best of BS Opinion: Protecting competition, the overvalued rupee, and more

Here is the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

'Anti-religious': Gujarat BJP targets Kejriwal over cracker ban in Delhi

Gujarat BJP chief C R Paatil has hit out at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over his government's decision to completely ban firecrackers in the national capital, and dubbed such people "anti-religious" who were stopping citizens from celebrating their festivals. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Delhi government last month re-imposed a complete ban on the production, sale and use of all types of firecrackers till January 1, 2023, including on Diwali, a practice it has been following for the last two years. Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai recently said bursting of firecrackers on Diwali in Delhi will attract a jail term of up to six months and a fine of Rs 200. Production, storage and sale of firecrackers in the capital will be punishable with a fine of up to Rs 5,000 and three years jail under Section 9B of the Explosives Act, Rai had said. Ahead of the Gujarat Assembly polls due later this year, AAP national convener Kejriwal has visited the state multiple times in the rece

CBI refutes allegations made by Sisodia that he was threatened to leave AAP

The CBI on Monday refuted the allegation levelled by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia that during his questioning in the Delhi excise scam case, he was threatened to quit the AAP. In a statement, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said that Sisodia was examined strictly on the allegations in the FIR and the evidence collected so far during the course of investigation. "His statement will be verified in due course and further action taken as per requirements of investigation," the agency said. The CBI said some sections of the media have aired a video in which, after leaving the CBI office, Sisodia has stated on camera that during his questioning, he was threatened to leave his political party and similar such insinuations. "The CBI strongly refutes these allegations and reiterates that examination of Sisodia was carried out in a professional and legal manner strictly as per the allegations against him in the FIR. The investigation of the case will continue as per the law

Without ideology or loyalty: Arvind Kejriwal and his pursuit of power

Rajendra Pal Gautam, Tahir Hussain and Amanatullah Khan have joined a long list of colleagues who have been left high and dry by Kejriwal. They were, in the end, mere props in his pursuit of power

Delhi has become the crime capital: Deputy CM Manish sisodia writes to LG

Citing the criminal incidents rising in the national capital over a few days, Deputy CM of Delhi Manish Sisodia on Sunday wrote a letter to LG Vinay Kumar Saxena

AAP releases fifth list of 12 candidates for Gujarat Assembly polls

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday released its fifth list of candidates for 12 seats in the Gujarat Assembly elections due this year-end. With the new list, the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP has so far announced the names of 53 candidates for the upcoming polls to 182 Assembly seats in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled state. The ruling BJP and the opposition Congress have so far not announced names of any of their candidates for the polls. The new entrant AAP, which is trying to position itself as the main contender to the BJP, had on October 6 announced its fourth list of 12 candidates and said it will contest elections on all 182 seats in the state. The latest names announced on Sunday of candidates are for 12 seats, four of which are reserved for the Scheduled Tribes (STs) and two for Scheduled Castes (SCs). Out of these 12 seats, six are currently held by the Congress, five by the BJP and one by the Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP), the Chhotu Vasava-led outfit which recently br

Gujarat polls: Dalit votes may get divided among BJP, Congress and AAP

At around eight per cent of Gujarat's population, Dalits are not a numerically dominant community in the state, but their votes are likely to get divided among the ruling BJP, opposition Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party in the upcoming Assembly elections, say political observers. All political parties are trying their best to woo the community, because apart from 13 seats (out of the total 182 in the state) reserved for the Scheduled Castes, Dalit voters can also tilt the scales in a few dozen other seats, they feel. While the BJP says it is confident Dalits will vote for it in the state Assembly polls due this year-end, the Congress says it is paying attention to seats with 10 per cent or more Dalit population. The BJP has won a majority of the 13 seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes since 1995. In 2007 and 2012, it won 11 and 10 of these seats, respectively, while the Congress had won two and three seats. But in 2017, the BJP faltered and managed to win only seven seats, while

AAP's Arvind Kejriwal, Bhagwant Mann on 2-day Gujarat visit from today

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann will be on a two-day visit to poll-bound Gujarat from Sunday. Aam Aadmi Party's national convener Kejriwal along with Mann will address public rallies in Bhavnagar, Mehsana and Banaskantha districts during the two days, AAP's state general secretary Manoj Sorathiya said. "They will reach Bhavnagar on Sunday afternoon and address a public rally there," Sorathiya told reporters. On Monday, the two leaders will address public meetings in Unjha town of Mehsana district and Deesa town in Banaskantha district, he said. "During the two days, the two leaders will also meet local leaders and hold meetings with the state AAP leaders on the upcoming elections," Sorathiya said. The elections in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled Gujarat are due this year-end. Kejriwal has visited Gujarat multiple times in the recent past and made a number of promises for the welfare of people of the state if his party is voted

Press mute for Indian Muslims

The silence of national parties, leaders on the flogging of Muslim men in Gujarat shows how afraid 'secular' forces have become, allowing radical Muslim voices to fill the vacuum

PM Modi's frequent Himachal visits show BJP's failures: AAP state chief

Himachal Pradesh AAP chief Surjit Thakur took a dig at the BJP over PM Modi's frequent visits to the state and said that it is a reflection of the ruling party's failure to fulfil the poll promises.

Quality education for children is our topmost priority: Delhi CM Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said education is the topmost priority of his government, as he asserted that if children will get quality education, they will reach great heights in their career. He said this while taking part in the Maharishi Valmiki Prakatotsav programme organised in Aliganj and Palika Kunj of his constituency, according to an official statement. "Maharishi Valmiki and Babasaheb Ambedkar gave utmost importance to quality education of children. Education is our topmost priority in Delhi; if children will get quality education, they will reach great heights in their career, their families will prosper and the country will progress. If children remain uneducated, their family lags behind and remains poor," Kejriwal said. He urged people to pay utmost attention to the education of children. "If they become well-educated, they will support their parents and take care of them in old age. In Delhi, education and healthcare is our top priority. This is my

Many BJP cadres in Gujarat secretly support AAP, claims Arvind Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday claimed that many leaders and workers of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Gujarat secretly support his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and want to see the defeat of their own party in the upcoming Assembly elections. Targeting the BJP over the posters that surfaced in several Gujarat cities on Saturday in which he was termed as "anti-Hindu", the AAP's national convener said those behind the posters were "demons and descendants of Kans". "Many BJP leaders and workers meet me and secretly ask me to do something to defeat the ruling party. I would like to tell all the BJP workers and leaders who want to defeat their party to work secretly for AAP," he said at a rally in tribal-dominated Valsad district in Gujarat, where Assembly polls are slated to be held in the next couple of months. "We have to break 27 years of their (BJP's) arrogance. I know you have your businesses, if you join us they will damage your business. You stay there, but .

Mohan Bhagwat should explain why only those from upper castes head RSS: AAP

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat must explain why it is always someone from the upper castes heading the organisation, the AAP demanded on Saturday, a day after his remark that concepts such as varna and jaati should be completely discarded. The Arvind Kejriwal-led party also attacked the BJP, saying it has "divided the country the most in the name of varna (class), jaati (caste) and dharma (religion)". At a book release function in Nagpur on Friday, the chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which is the ideological fountainhead of the BJP, had said the caste system has no relevance now and concepts such as varna and jaati should be completely discarded. "When he says such things, I want to ask the RSS chief why it is always someone from the upper castes who becomes the RSS chief," Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Durgesh Pathak said when asked by reporters for his comment on Bhagwat's remark. He, however, did not give any details on the caste of all the individuals who have headed th

Arvind Kejriwal running from constitutional duties, says Delhi LG

In a no holds barred letter to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, LG VK Saxena has accused him and his ministers of running away from their constitutional duties and responsibility of governance in Delhi. In the letter dated October 7, Saxena also hit out at Kejriwal government saying its rule, based on "speeches and advertisement", was alienated from works of basic public interest. Saxena's letter comes days after Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia accused him of interfering in AAP government's functioning and "unconstitutionally" setting up probes on its decisions and works. In a cheeky reply to Saxena, Kejriwal in a tweet on Saturday said: Another love letter has come. Kejriwal had earlier too taken a dig at the LG in a tweet saying he was scolded by Saxena more than he is scolded by his wife. The LG said that his letters and instructions were meant to caution the government against "errors and shortcomings" in its functioning yet he was personally attacked and became target of

AAP burns Ravana effigies across Delhi to protest MCD's failure under BJP

The Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday burnt effigies of Ravana at about 3,500 locations here in a symbolic protest against the BJP's "failure" in maintaining cleanliness in the capital. However, the effigies burnt by party leaders and workers were not made of garbage as announced by AAP's MCD poll incharge Dugesh Pathak on Monday. 'Ravana made of BJP's garbage' was written on all the effigies burnt during the protest, the party said. The party changed its plan to burn Ravana's effigies made of garbage in view of the ban on their open burning in the capital, according to party sources. All three erstwhile municipal corporations were ruled by the BJP till they were unified and renamed as the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in May. "We got the feedback yesterday itself. That's why smaller effigies were used for a symbolic protest with a writing on them 'BJP Ke Koode Ka Ravan' so that they do not cause air pollution," a source in the party said. In a statement, the AAP said party leade

Help AAP win 150 out of 182 seats in Gujarat: Kejriwal urges voters

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday urged the people of Gujarat to vote for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the upcoming state Assembly elections and help it win 150 out of the total 182 seats for a "big change". He also appealed to them not to vote for the Congress, saying that voting for it would help the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) win the election. Both the BJP and Congress were united in their aim to defeat the AAP, he claimed. Assembly elections in the BJP-ruled Gujarat are slated to be held by the end of this year. "Only 50 days are left. Push hard so that we get at least 150 seats. We need a big change, 90-95 seats will not do. People of Delhi gave us 67 seats out of 70, people of Punjab gave us 92 out of 117 seats. Will not the people of Gujarat defeat both Punjab and Delhi, break their record?" Kejriwal said while addressing a public rally in Surendranagar city. He also claimed that the Centre's Intelligence Bureau (IB) has said that the AAP will win by a

AAP Gujarat co-incharge Raghav Chadha likely to be arrested, says Kejriwal

Preparations are underway to arrest Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Raghav Chadha since he was appointed as the party's co-incharge of political affairs in Gujarat, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal claimed on Friday. Kejriwal, however, did not specify which agency was working on the alleged plan to arrest Chadha and on what charges. Rajya Sabha MP Chadha, who is credited with playing a significant role in the AAP's victory in the assembly elections in Punjab earlier this year, was recently appointed as co-incharge of the party's political affairs in Gujarat where elections are due this year. "We are hearing that these people will arrest Ragav Chadha now since he has been appointed as co-incharge of Gujarat and he has started participating in poll campaigns in Gujarat," Kejriwal, the AAP's national convenor, said in a Tweet in Hindi. "In which case they will (arrest) and what will be the allegations, these people are working on these points at present," he added. Kejriwal's claim