Wrote to Modi 30 times, never replied, has an ego: Anna Hazare

New Delhi, Jan 1: Union Minister Prakash Javadekar launched a scathing attack on the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress for allegedly inciting violence in Delhi against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Mr Javadekar said the violence over the amended citizenship law that broke out in areas like Jamia Nagar, Seelampur and Jama Masjid "cannot be forgiven".

"In Jamia, the Congress' Asib Khan and AAP's Amanatullah Khan delivered inciting speeches. They spread disinformation. The law is to give citizenship to people and not take citizenship away," Mr Javadekar told reporters.

He said the people of India understand the plans of the Congress and the AAP and both parties should apologise.

"We will bring out the truth. The fight is between anarchists and those who oppose them. Our agenda would be wholesome development of Delhi. The AAP strangulated municipal corporations' attempt on development. Rs 900 crore was not given. Today, the people of Delhi are surprised that the AAP slept through all these 4.5 years and in the remaining six months they have launched schemes," Mr Javadekar said.

"The work is done by someone else and the credit is taken by a different individual," the Union Minister said, referring to allegations that the government led by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal took credit for work done by BJP-ruled municipal agencies.

"Who did fogging in dengue season? Our corporations organised an awareness drive against water accumulation and dengue cases went down. During corporation polls, Kejriwal said don't choose BJP as dengue will claim lives. Now he is also claiming credit for decrease in dengue cases because of the work done by these corporations," Mr Javadekar said.

"I am an environment minister. We worked on pollution control. There is no limit to their (AAP's) lies. About unauthorised colonies, the AAP says we have not regularised it. We made a law signed by the President, yet they spread lies," Mr Javadekar said.

The election in Delhi will be held before the end of February.

New Delhi, Jan 24: Under attack for doling out subsidies, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said freebies in limited dose are good for the economy as they make more money available to the poor and boosts demand.

Opposition parties have been attacking the AAP-led Delhi government for giving "freebies" ahead of polls after it announced schemes like free bus rides for women and 200 units of free electricity.

"Freebies, in limited dose, are good for economy. It makes more money available to poor, hence boosts demand. However, it should be done in such limits so that no extra taxes have to be imposed and it does not lead to budget deficits," Kejriwal said in a tweet.

Slamming the BJP, Kejriwal said he is happy that the people of Delhi have forced the Saffron party to ask for votes on the basis of CCTVs, schools and unauthorised colonies.

Reacting to a tweet of the BJP Delhi in which Home Minister Amit Shah had asked how many schools have been constructed and cameras installed by the AAP government, Kejriwal said he is happy that Shah saw some CCTV cameras as earlier he had claimed that he could not find a single one.

"I am happy you saw some CCTV cameras. A few days back you said there was not a single camera. Take out some time we will show you our schools also. I am extremely happy that the people of Delhi have changed the politics by which the BJP has to ask for votes on CCTV, schools and raw colonies here," he said in a tweet.

Responding to Shah's allegation that he could not find WiFi in Delhi as promised by Kejriwal and that his battery drained out in the process, the Delhi chief minister said along with free WiFi they have also made arrangement for free charging points.

Mumbai, Apr 14: Hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announed extension of the coronavirus-enforced lockdown till May 3, a large number of migrant workers who earn daily wages came out on road in Mumbai on Tuesday demanding transport arrangements to go back to their native places.

Bandra in Mumbai right now. Police probing what caused such a large crowd to gather. pic.twitter.com/04H1Mnggd2

— Padmaja joshi (@PadmajaJoshi) April 14, 2020

Daily wage workers have been rendered jobless ever since the lockdown was announced late last month to stem the spread of COVID-19, making their life a constant struggle.

Though authorities and NGOs have made arrangemnets for their food, most of them want to go back to their native places to escape the hardship brought by the sweeping curbs.

Wow. Thousands of ambassadors of peace doing this at #Bandra right now. Well done @OfficeofUT, well done. The world should see this.#Covid_19 #COVIDIOTSpic.twitter.com/SdinaZXm39

— Abhijit Majumder (@abhijitmajumder) April 14, 2020

According to a police official, daily wage earners, numbering around 1,000, assembled at suburban Bandra (West) bus depot near the railway station and squatted on road at around 3 pm.

The daily wage earners, who reside on rent in slums in in the nearby Patel Nagri locality, were demanding arrangement of transport facilities so that they can go back to their native towns and villages.

They originally hail from states like West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh.

Thousands of migrants gather at Mumbai's #Bandra railway station and protested. All are migrant workers, specially from Bihar-Bangal and they wanted to go home. They had hoped trains will start today. The police is investigating the matter and says crowd has been dispersed now. pic.twitter.com/NMHfv0CEpj

— Shivangi Thakur (@thakur_shivangi) April 14, 2020

One of the labourers, who did not reveal his name, said, NGOs and local residents are providing food to migrant workers, but they want to go back to their native states during the lockdown which has badly affected their source of livelihood.

"Now, we dont want food, we want to go back to our native place, we are not happy with the announcement (extending the lockdown)," he said, looking dejected.

Asadullah Sheikh, who hails from from Malda in West Bengal, said, We have already spent our savings during the first phase of the lockdown. We have nothing to eat now, we just want to go back at our native place, the government should made arrangements for us.

This happened in bandra just minutes back ! This can be potentially dangerous. Mumbai anyways is a hotspot ! What is the @MumbaiPolice and @OfficeofUT doing ???? Did @uddhavthackeray not provide food and shelter to such migrants ? #mumbai #UddhavThackeray #Lockdown2 pic.twitter.com/AeSuqbwhyN

— Megha Prasad (@MeghaSPrasad) April 14, 2020

Another labourer, Abdul Kayyun, said I am in Mumbai for last many years but have never seen such a situation. The government should start trains to shift us from here to our native place."

Heavy police deployment was made at the protest site to tackle any untoward incident.

Personnel from other police stations were called at the spot to maintain order, the official addd.