Why is BJP avoiding polls in Delhi, wonders Kejriwal

September 9, 2014

New Delhi, Sep 9: Arvind Kejriwal, who had taken on Narendra Modi in Varanasi constituency, on Tuesday said “perhaps” he is the most popular leader in the country currently but wondered why BJP is avoiding facing polls in the capital when it claims a wave in its favour.aravind

The AAP leader, who quit the Chief Minister’s post after leading a 49-day-long government, said BJP was afraid of losing elections and that is why it was trying to avoid facing the electorate despite winning all seven seats in Lok Sabha polls in Delhi.

“They are afraid they will lose. All the surveys coming now are showing that AAP will get an overwhelming majority if the elections are held today. It is their government at the Centre, it is their government in MCD. They have seven MPs and they claim it is a wave sweeping across the nation in their favour. Then go for an election. Why they are resorting to these kind of horse trading, buying of MLAs, offering four crore rupees,” he said.

“Perhaps,” Mr. Kejriwal said when asked whether he agreed that Modi was the most popular leader in the country now.

Coming down hard on Lt Governor Najeeb Jung for seeking to invite BJP to form government in the city, Mr. Kejriwal said there was “absolutely no possibility” for the saffron party to take over the reins without indulging in horse-trading.

“The manner in which the LG of Delhi has behaved in the last few weeks clearly shows that he has been batting for BJP,” Mr. Kejriwal said.

Insisting that any invite to BJP to form government will be unconstitutional, he said “I don’t know what arithmetic the Lieutenant Governor has that he has written to the President this letter seeking approval to invite the BJP to form the government.”

Asked whether he regret fighting the elections against Mr. Modi in Varanasi, Mr. Kejriwal said ‘No’.

He said people had very “high hopes” initially that as soon as government was formed as they expected that inflation and prices will come down and corruption will be contained.

But, he said, peoples’ hopes were “betrayed”. “But people still have hopes and everyone says that let give him more time and people are willing to give him time,” Mr. Kejriwal said.

On BJP’s view that strength of the government could be known through secret ballot, he said it was not possible under the Constitution.

“We have consulted very senior advocates. No Article of the Constitution allows secret ballot and in the business rules of Delhi Legislative Assembly it is clearly written that voting can take place only by a show of hands. There is nothing about secret ballot,” he said.

Mr. Kejriwal also rejected criticism that he quit as Delhi Chief Minister to become the Prime Minister.

“I didn’t resign as chief minister to get a major role in the Centre. I resigned from the chief ministership because we actually thought that immediately, there will be Delhi Assembly elections and we will get a clear majority and then we will run government for next five years and make some big systemic changes in Delhi; that was the intention,” he said.

Mr. Kejriwal said he did not have ambition to become Prime Minister. “I have said so many times that I was personally against fighting Lok Sabha elections at that scale.” AAP had contested in around 430 seats in the Lok Sabha polls.

Asked about inner-party democracy, Mr. Kejriwal said AAP has more inner-party democracy than any other party.

“Firstly, let me say with all strength at my command that AAP has more inner-party democracy than any other party in this country. Secondly, it is a new party, we cannot expect everything to be hunky dory in this party. There are a lot of things which may not be in order. We are putting our best efforts to put them in order.

“I may have several weaknesses, I am trying to rectify them. I am a human, not god. There is one thing, our intentions are noble,” he said.

Queried about his style of leadership and whether he takes criticism as constructive, he said, “Of course. I have huge respect for Shanti Bhushan. I greatly admire and respect him. He is a guide for us. He has the right to even slap me. Whatever issues he has raised, we will work on it.”

Mr. Bhushan had last month criticised Mr. Kejriwal’s style of functioning.

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News Network
March 19,2020

New Delhi, Mar 19: The total number of reported novel coronavirus cases in India has climbed to 169, with 30 fresh cases reported from various parts of the country on Wednesday.

The total cases in India include 25 foreign nationals and the three persons who died in Delhi, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

As coronavirus cases continue to rise in India, over 5,700 people, who had come in contact with positive cases, continue to be under rigorous surveillance, the government has said.

Maharashtra has 43 cases, including 3 foreigners, while Kerala has recorded 27 cases which include two foreign nationals. A 28-year-old woman from Pune with a travel history to France and the Netherlands tested positive for Covid-19, a senior official said on Wednesday.

A 68-year-old woman has tested positive for coronavirus in Mumbai. She was in close contact with a Covid-19 patient, who was diagnosed yesterday.

In Rajasthan, three more have tested positive for Covid-19. The new cases have come from Jhunjhunu district. Their samples have been sent to SMS Medical college.

In Maharashtra, a 21-year-old man in Pimpri Chinchwad with travel history to the Philippines, Singapore and Colombo has tested positive for coronavirus. One more person in Ratnagiri has tested positive for Covid-19.

Telangana has reported seven more confirmed coronavirus cases. All the seven are Indonesian national.

Delhi has so far reported 10 positive cases which include one foreigner while Uttar Pradesh has recorded 16 cases, including one foreigner. A man from Noida tested positive on Wednesday, taking the total number to four in Noida.

Karnataka reported two fresh cases on Wednesday, taking the number of infections to 13. The number of cases in Ladakh rose to eight and Jammu and Kashmir three. Telangana has reported six cases which include two foreigners.

One more person has tested positive for coronavirus in Kashmir. The person, with foreign travel history, has been put under isolation. He had arrived in J&K on March 16.

There will be restrictions on public transport, assembly of people and some other measures, in #Srinagar from tomorrow.

Rajasthan has also reported four cases including that of two foreigners. Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Uttarakhand and Punjab have reported one case each.

Tamil Nadu Health Minister C Vijayabaskar has confined the state's second positive case of coronavirus in the state.

The health minister has stated that the condition of the patient is stable and is in observation.

In Haryana, there are 16 cases, which include fourteen foreigners.

According to the Union ministry's data, 14 people have been discharged so far, including the three patients from Kerala.

Three persons infected with the virus have died so far, the latest casualty being a 64-year-old man from Mumbai with a travel history to Dubai who succumbed on Tuesday.

While a 76-year-old man from Kalaburagi who returned from Saudi Arabia died last Tuesday, a 68-year-old woman in Delhi who had tested positive for coronavirus passed away on Friday night.

The government on Tuesday banned the entry of passengers from Afghanistan, Philippines and Malaysia to India with immediate effect, according to an additional travel advisory.

With coronavirus cases swelling in the country, the government has also banned the entry of passengers from the European Union countries, Turkey and the UK from March 18 till March 31.

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News Network
February 28,2020

Feb 28: For 30-year-old Shabana Parveen, it was nothing sort of a miracle — giving birth to a healthy baby boy after surviving a brutal attack by a mob who kicked and assaulted her and her husband in northeast Delhi's Karawal Nagar.

Their home set afire by the mob, Ms Parveen's family is now pinning their hopes on the newborn who they called a "miracle baby".

Ms Parveen, her husband, two kids and mother-in-law were sleeping inside the house on Monday night when a mob barged into their house.

Narrating their ordeal, Ms Parveen's mother-in-law Nashima told PTI, "They hurled religious slurs, beat up my son. Some of them even kicked my daughter-in-law in the abdomen...as I went to protect her they came charging at me... We thought we would not survive that night. But with God's grace we somehow managed to escape from the clutches of the rioters."

"We rushed Parveen to a nearby hospital but doctors there asked us to go to Al-hind Hospital where she delivered a baby boy on Wednesday," she added.

Despite having lost their home for over two decades and all belongings, her family has overcome the initial shock and are now overjoyed with the birth of the "miracle baby".

Ms Nashima said she had no clue where the family would go after Ms Parveen was discharged from the hospital.

"It's all gone there. Nothing left. Maybe, we will go to some relative's place and see how we can re-build our life," she said.

Ali, 6, who held his one-day-old brother, caressing his forehead, said, "I will take care of him forever and save him from every ill."

The violence over the amended citizenship law in northeast Delhi has claimed 38 lives so far and left over 200 people injured. Frenzied mobs torched houses, shops, vehicles, a petrol pump and pelted stones at locals and police personnel.

Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Babarpur, Yamuna Vihar, Bhajanpura, Chand Bagh and Shiv Vihar are among the areas mainly affected by the clashes.

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News Network
May 22,2020

New Delhi, May 22: Air India on Friday started booking for domestic flights amid the COVID-19 lockdown.

"We have started bookings for domestic flights," said Air India in a statement.

The airlines will operate a total of 8,428 flights each week for the next three months from May 25 to August 25 as the Central government has announced the resumption of domestic flights.

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday said that a minimum and maximum fare for three months has been set for the domestic flight services, which resume from May 25.

In the case of Delhi, Mumbai the minimum fare would be Rs 3,500 for a journey between 90-120 minutes. The maximum fare would be Rs 10,000.

"This is operative for three months -- till one minute to midnight on August 24," said Puri at a press conference here.

Puri said that guidelines have been issued for the passengers and airports, which are to be followed during flight operations.

He also said that self-declaration or Aarogya Setu App status on a compatible device would be obtained to ensure that a person does not have COVID-19 symptoms.

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