Page 20 - Aap

AAP asks PM to remove Delhi L-G for 'illegal award' of contract to daughter

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday alleged that Delhi LG V K Saxena misused his position and awarded a contract for interior designing of a Khadi lounge in Mumbai to his daughter when he was the KVIC chairman and demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi "immediately" sack him. Addressing a press conference, AAP national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh also demanded that legal proceedings be initiated against Saxena for allegedly the awarding to his daughter in violation of the law. "LG V K Saxena, during his term as KVIC chairman, misused his position and awarded a contract for interior designing of a Khadi lounge in Mumbai to his daughter. In awarding the contract, he violated the provisions of the KVIC Act 1961," Singh charged. The prime minister should immediately sack Saxena as the Delhi LG and legal action should be taken against him for illegally awarding the contract to his daughter, he said. The AAP is holding consultations with its senior lawyers and ...

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AAP vote share in Gujarat up by 4% post CBI raid on Sisodia, says Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said the Aam Aadmi Party's vote share in Gujarat has increased by 4 per cent after CBI raids against his deputy Manish Sisodia. This vote share will increase by 6 per cent if he is arrested, the AAP national convener said during a discussion on the confidence motion in the Delhi Assembly. "The CBI raided Sisodia, went to his village and searched his bank locker. CBI people said they did not find anything against him but are under pressure to arrest him," Kejriwal claimed. The prime minister has given a "certificate of honesty", he said. "The AAP's vote share has increased by 4 per cent in Gujarat after CBI raids against Sisodia. It will increase by 6 per cent if he's arrested," the chief minister said. Attacking the BJP, he said the saffron party leaders tried to buy AAP MLAs but none of his legislators accepted their offer. "Absolutely corrupt party lacks educated people while 'hardcore honest' party has those with good education,

AAP MLAs seek time from President Murmu to apprise about 'Operation Lotus'

AAP MLA Atishi on Thursday said she has sought time from President Droupadi Murmu to apprise her about the BJP's alleged attempts to "destabilise" state governments in the country. This comes a day after the CBI accepted a complaint against the BJP's alleged Operation Lotus'. I have sought time with the custodian of democracy of India - the Hon'ble President, Atishi tweeted. A delegation of @AamAadmiParty MLAs wants to meet her to discuss 'Operation Lotus' - the attempts of BJP to destabilise state governments across the country, she added. On Wednesday, a 10-member delegation of the AAP MLAs including Atishi went to meet CBI Director Subodh Kumar Jaiswal to demand a probe into BJP's alleged attempts to topple other parties' governments in the state even though his office had not given any response to their request for the meeting. As they were not allowed to enter the CBI headquarters, the AAP legislators sat on a dharna outside in protest. Amid the agitation, some CBI officials

Delhi L-G to take legal action against AAP leaders for false graft charges

Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena will take legal action against AAP leaders, including MLAs Atishi, Saurabh Bhardwaj, and Durgesh Pathak for "false" corruption charges against him, officials said on Wednesday. Saxena has refuted the AAP leaders' charge of Rs 1400-crore corruption when he was Khadi and Village Industries Commission chairman as a "figment of their imagination", they said. Legal action will also be taken against Jasmine Shah who is the vice chairman of the Dialogue and Development Commission of Delhi, officials said.

300 liquor stores, 4 microbreweries: Host of changes for tipplers in Delhi

Delhi is set to return to the old liquor excise policy regime, which includes opening 300 new liquor shops, and four microbreweries in the city

CBI officials search Delhi Dy CM Manish Sisodia's bank locker in Ghaziabad

CBI officials searched Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia's locker here on Tuesday, chaos reigning outside the bank as camera crews jostled with each other and curious crowds gathered to see what was happening. A team of about five Central Bureau of Investigation officials reached the PNB branch at Sector 4 Vasundhara in Ghaziabad, on the outskirts of the national capital, to execute the search, officials said. Sisodia was at the bank with his wife. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader is among the 15 people and entities named in an FIR registered by the agency in connection with alleged irregularities in the implementation of Delhi government's Excise Policy 2021-22. The CBI is welcome, Sisodia had said in a tweet on Monday. "Tomorrow, the CBI is coming to check our bank locker. They did not find anything during a 14-hour-long raid at my residence on August 19. They won't find anything in the locker too. The CBI is welcome. My family and I will extend full cooperation in the

AAP MLAs' protest continues at assembly, party seeks probe against Delhi LG

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs have also been protesting under the Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru statues inside the assembly premises seeking Deputy Chief Minister Sisodia's resignation

Operation Lotus: CM Kejriwal tables confidence motion in Delhi Assembly

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday tabled a confidence motion in the Delhi Assembly, saying it was meant to prove that the BJP's 'Operation Lotus' may have been successful in other states but it failed here as all AAP MLAs are "hardcore honest". He said the BJP could not poach any of the AAP MLAs. He also alleged that the BJP will try to topple the Jharkhand government in the next 15 days. Kejriwal said the current central government is the "most corrupt" as it is "buying MLAs" by taxing the common people, while it is waiving loans of its billionaire friends. The House was later adjourned for the day amid an uproar over allegations that Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena pressured his employees to exchange demonetised currency notes worth Rs 1,400 crore in 2016 when he was the chairman of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission. Earlier, challenging the BJP to buy even one AAP MLA, Kejriwal said, "The confidence motion is to show that 'Operation Lotus' could have been

AAP govt hiked school classroom construction cost by Rs 326 cr, alleges BJP

The BJP on Monday alleged a scam in the Delhi education department, saying the city government increased the budget for the construction of classrooms in its existing schools, ignoring the Central Public Works Department's guidelines. Citing a Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) report sent to the Delhi government's vigilance department in 2020, the saffron party said the city government hiked the construction cost by Rs 326 crore, 53 percent more than the original tender amount, without floating a new tender. Alleging that the Delhi government counted toilets as classrooms to inflate figures related to school infrastructure, it said the AAP's education model was actually and extortion model. "Corruption is in the DNA of Arvind Kejriwal. It's not AAP sarkar but PAAP ki sarkar (government of sins). He and (Manish) Sisodia are experts in corruption... Where did this money go? Did it go in your pocket, Arvind Kejriwal ji? Did you take note of the report? What action did you take on it?"

Delhi LG office returns 47 files signed by CMO staff instead of CM Kejriwal

The Delhi Lieutenant Governor's office has returned 47 files signed by the CMO staff instead of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, sources said Saturday. The move is likely to intensify the tussle between the two constitutional authorities in the national capital. The development came nearly a week after LG VK Saxena wrote to Kejriwal, pointing out that the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) was forwarding files seeking opinion and approvals to the LG Secretariat without his signatures. The files returned by the LG Secretariat included those related to the education department and the Waqf Board among others, the sources at the LG office said. The sources claimed that the CMO had continued to send files not signed by the chief minister despite the issue being raised by Saxena.

Delhi's education system hollow, a gimmick, says Dharmendra Pradhan

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has termed Delhi government's education system hollow and a gimmick. Attacking the AAP dispensation over the excise policy, Pradhan said his friends Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia are trying to cover up their theft by highlighting the the New York Times story on Delhi's education system. Delhi's education system is khokhla (hollow) and a nautanki (gimmick). According to the National Achievement Survey, the performance of class 10 and 12 students of Delhi government schools has been constantly declining, Pradhan said in his address at Business Today's India@100 conclave on Friday. "They are just trying to cover up for their theft using the excise policy by showing the New York Times article while in reality the situation is different, he added. The New York Times report published last week had triggered a war of words between the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) after the CBI raided the residence of ...

BJP MLAs hold mock Assembly session, slam AAP govt over liquor "scam"

A day after being marshalled out from the special session of the Delhi Assembly, BJP MLAs held a mock house sitting on Sunday and slammed the AAP government over the alleged liquor "scam". The mock assembly session was held at the Ambedkar International Centre during which BJP members wore masks to impersonate Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia and other ruling party MLAs. The eight BJP MLAs were marshalled out for the entire day over alleged video recording of the special session on Friday. During the moak session, the MLAs took turn to ask questions and slam the Kejriwal government over the alleged liquor "scam", which they could not do in the House on Friday. They asked why Kejriwal government withdrew it's excise policy after a CBI probe was recommended by the LG V K Saxena. "The Kejriwal government did not open a single school or hospital in entire East Delhi but dotted it with liquor stores everywhere," charged Rohtas Nagar MLA Jitendra ...

Intention wasn't to point faults: Delhi CM Kejriwal to Himanta Biswa Sarma

A day after Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma asked his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal to "do his homework" before commenting, the AAP supremo said on Friday his intention was not to "point out faults" and that "we have to learn from each other" to make the country stronger. Kejriwal had, on Wednesday, tweeted that a closure of schools is not a solution and there is a need to open more schools across the country, and shared a link to a news report claiming a "closure" of some schools in Assam. Sarma took to Twitter on Thursday to lash out at Kejriwal over the amalgamation of schools and asked him to "do his homework" before commenting. "Dear @ArvindKejriwal Ji-as usual you commented on something without any homework! Since my days as Education Minister till now, please note, the Assam government has established/taken over 8,610 new schools," Sarma had tweeted. He had also asked how many schools did the Delhi government start in the last seven years. The Aam Aadmi Party (

Will bring confidence motion in Assembly to show no defection: Kejriwal

"The BJP has dismantled several governments and now they have turned towards Delhi. There is a serial killer of governments in our country. The pattern is the same," Kejriwal said on Friday.

Education in AAP govt's words, liquor in work: BJP's Anurag Thakur

Education may feature prominently in the words of the Aam Aadmi Party but it is "liquor" which drives their work, Union minister Anurag Thakur said on Friday as the BJP kept its attack on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia over the alleged excise scam. He said the AAP government in Delhi did not make "pathshala" (schools) but opened many "madhushala" (liquor vends) and questioned the "silence" of Kejriwal and Sisodia to the queries raised by him over the "scam", now being probed by the CBI. "The liquor scam has unmasked the AAP and showed how it is neck-deep in corruption. Why are its leaders not answering the questions raised by us over its excise policy," Thakur said. The AAP government should answer as to why Rs 144 crore was returned to liquor dealers besides Rs 30 crore earnest money, he asked. "If the excise policy was correct, then why was it withdrawn? The truth is serious corruption has occurred. Their health minister is in jail on corruptio

CBI FIR fake, Centre acting like 'killer' to eliminate state govts: Sisodia

The BJP-led Centre is acting like a serial killer to eliminate state governments, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia claimed on Friday, as he termed the CBI FIR against him "completely fake" and based on "mere sources". Speaking in the Delhi Assembly, Sisodia said the CBI does not have proof of any corruption in the city government's excise policy. He also alleged that the CBI conducted raids on his residence because the Delhi government's good work was being praised across the globe. The deputy chief minister, who is an accused in the CBI case related to the Delhi government's excise policy, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi "feels insecure" seeing good work done by others. "Prime Minister Modi feels insecure seeing good work by others. I have not seen a more insecure person than him. Had Arvind Kejriwal been the prime minister and I the education minister of a state, he would not have done something like this," Sisodia said, participating in a discussion on a government .

Intention not to point out faults, have to learn from each other: Kejriwal

A day after Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma asked his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal to "do his homework" before commenting, the AAP supremo said on Friday his intention was not "point out faults" and that "we have to learn from each other" to make the country stronger. Kejriwal had, on Wednesday, tweeted that a closure of schools is not a solution and there is a need to open more schools across the country, and shared a link to a news report claiming a "closure" of some schools in Assam. Sarma took to Twitter on Thursday to lash out at Kejriwal over the amalgamation of schools and asked him to "do his homework" before commenting. "Dear @ArvindKejriwal Ji-as usual you commented on something without any homework! Since my days as Education Minister till now, please note, the Assam government has established/taken over 8,610 new schools," Sarma had tweeted. He had also asked how many schools did the Delhi government start in the last seven years. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP

CBI FIR fake, Centre trying to eliminate state govts, says Manish Sisodia

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Friday said the CBI FIR against him is "completely fake", and alleged that the BJP-ruled Centre is acting like a serial killer to eliminate state governments. He was speaking during the special session of the Delhi Assembly. Sisodia also attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he "gets insecure" seeing good work done by others. "Prime Minister Modi gets insecure seeing good work by others. I have not seen a more insecure person than him. Had Arvind Kejriwal been the prime minister, he would not have done something like this had I been an education minister in some other government," Sisodia said in the Assembly. He said Arvind Kejriwal supported the prime minister in all the Centre's good initiatives but the prime minister did the opposite. Sisodia said CBI officers searched his clothes and even his children's clothes during the 14-hour raid at his house but found nothing. "The FIR against me is completely fake. I have committed

53 of 62 AAP MLAs attend meeting to discuss BJP's 'poaching' attempts

A total of 53 AAP MLAs out of 62 attended a meeting convened by party supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday to discuss alleged poaching attempts by the BJP, sources said. The meeting that was scheduled to begin at 11 am was concluded within a few minutes, they said, adding that all the 62 legislators of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi were contacted ahead of the meeting at Kejriwal's residence. The sources said at least a dozen AAP MLAs had gone incommunicado ahead of the meeting. "We were not able to contact some of our MLAs as they were probably stuck in traffic, but we want to assure the people of Delhi that the AAP government will not fall. I want to assure you that all the legislators would be present at the meeting," senior party leader Saurabh Bhardwaj had told reporters outside the chief minister's residence. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders have dismissed the AAP's "poaching" claim, terming it a "public stunt" by the Kejriwal-led party. BJP M