Aam Aadmi Party-Congress rule in Delhi promises to be a short and stormy affair

December 24, 2013

Aam_Aadmi

New Delhi, Dec 24: Shortly after it pulled off the biggest political surprise in recent years by its stunning electoral debut, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has followed it up by taking an unexpected risk of forming the government with Congress support.

Given the apparent dislike both parties have for each other, a fact proved by near vitriolic statements from prominent Congress and AAP leaders even on the day when Arvind Kejriwal staked claim, it promises to be a short and stormy affair between the two before a near-certain bitter divorce.

For the AAP, which was formed mainly on an anti-corruption plank and gained popularity by attacking the Congress-led government, the decision to accept the Congress offer is double-edged.

The Congress, already decimated in the capital, seems to be content to wait till the debutant AAP fails to deliver on what it terms “unrealistic promises” before it decides to pull the rug.

The degree of mistrust between the two sides can be gauged by the public statement from prominent AAP leader Prashant Bhushan. “We are aware that the Congress may pull down our government sooner or later. We are not in any coalition and will implement our agenda irrespective of what the Congress may want he said.

The Congress, a section of whose state leadership was opposed to providing any support to the AAP, also hinted that it is not interested in keeping the debutant party in power for long.

“We will support them as long they deliver. We know it is not possible to fulfil the kind of promises they made,” said outgoing chief minister Sheila Dikshit.

The AAP leadership, being fully aware of the pitfalls in having accepted the Congress support, has gone ahead with its risky decision in an apparent bid to expand beyond the Capital.

A strong view within the party is that even a short tenure will provide it with a chance to show the difference it can make. The party plans to use any goodwill gathered during their Delhi stint for the 2014 general elections.

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News Network
July 22,2020

Warangal, Jul 22: Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, an outlet in Telangana's Warangal has started selling 'anti-corona' tea. The tea has become an instant hit with the locals as the beverage is laced with natural immunity-boosting ingredients.

"We sell tea named 'anti-corona'. It has natural immunity-boosting ingredients such as ginger, black pepper, cinnamon powder, among other things. A mixture of these ingredients boosts our immunity," Shiva, the owner of the tea shop said.

"Better immunity is needed to fight the coronavirus infection in the body. So we have started preparing this tea and selling it during the coronavirus pandemic," he added.

Prabhakar, a customer at the tea stall said, the tea was a "corona special tea," and it has Ayurvedic mixtures which help to boost the immunity of the human body.

"The tea is prepared after adding the Ayurveda mixtures to milk. This is good for your health. I, along with my family members and friends, come here every day. We drink this tea thrice a day," Prabhakar added.

According to the Union Health Ministry, there are 46,274 COVID-19 cases in Telangana. Meanwhile, India's coronavirus count stood at 11,92,915 on Wednesday morning.

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News Network
June 13,2020

Jun 13: The Congress on Saturday accused the BJP-led government of burdening the common man with high taxes on petrol and diesel and earning Rs 2.5 lakh crore since March 5.

Congress leader Kapil Sibal said while international crude oil prices have fallen and are at the lowest level in 15 years, yet petrol and diesel prices are skyrocketing and common people continue to suffer under the Modi dispensation.

He said instead of passing the benefit of lower crude prices to consumers, petrol and diesel prices were hiked for the seventh straight day on June 13.

"The government has earned as much as Rs 44,000 crore in the last six days due to hike in petrol, diesel prices. Since March 5, the government has earned as much as Rs 2.5 lakh crore by way of increasing petrol, diesel prices.

"If the government had even the slightest feelings for the common man, instead of benefitting the companies and the government, the prime minister would have helped the common man with reduced fuel prices," Sibal said at an online press conference.

According to a report by Care Ratings, he said the hike effectively meant that the Central government is collecting around 270 per cent taxes on the base price of petrol and 256 per cent in case of diesel.

The former union minister said petrol was selling at Rs 71.41 in Delhi on May 1, 2014, when international crude oil prices were USD 106.85, while on June 12, 2020, the price of petrol was Rs 75.16 when the crude oil was at USD 38.

He said central excise and VAT cumulatively account for 69 per cent of tax on fuel in India which is higher than anywhere else in the world. He said the tax of fuel in the US was 19 per cent, Japan 47 per cent, the UK 62 per cent, France 63 per cent and Germany 65 per cent.

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News Network
February 18,2020

New Delhi, Feb 18: Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot is the richest minister in the AAP government, according to a report released by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) on Monday.

In a statement, the NGO said, Delhi Election Watch and ADR have analysed the self-sworn affidavits of all the seven-party leaders including Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

According to the statement, the minister with the lowest declared total assets is Gopal Rai with assets worth Rs 90.01 lakh.

"The minister with the highest declared total assets is Kailash Gahlot from Najafgarh constituency with assets worth Rs 46.07 crore," it stated.

The report by ADR comes on the day Kejriwal and his six ministers took charge after the formation of the new AAP government.

Chief Minister Kejriwal and his cabinet colleagues took charge of their respective offices on Monday and asserted that they would work to fulfil the promises made in the "guarantee card", released during the poll campaign, including reduction in pollution and expansion of metro network.

Members of his Cabinet are -- Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain, Rajendra Pal Gautam, Imran Hussain, Gopal Rai and Kailash Gahlot.

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