With such announcements grabbing the voters' attention, critical issues like pollution, especially the smog that chokes Delhi every winter, remain largely unaddressed. Many residents have raised concerns over the lack of concrete action plans to combat air pollution, which continues to pose a severe health risk to Delhiites.
In a left-handed compliment to Delhi Chief Minister Atishi, Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena on Friday said she is 'a thousand times better' than her predecessor Arvind Kejriwal.
The broom, the hand or the kite, listen to the mind or the heart, 'tunnel vision voting' to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party or electing the 'right party'. With only two days to go for polling, the choice is anything but clear for Delhi's Muslims, say many voters.
During his address, Kejriwal was speaking about the Delhi government's school education model when a section of the audience started chanting 'Modi, Modi' slogans.
Kejriwal described the BJP's election manifesto as "dangerous for the country".
The BJP's hyper-local campaign targeting the AAP's loyal base among the poor, along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's depiction of Delhi's ruling party as "AAP-da" (disaster), proved decisive in the Delhi assembly elections. This victory marks the end of a 26-year drought for the BJP in the national capital. The BJP's campaign highlighted perceived failures in governance and corruption allegations against the AAP, while emphasizing its own welfare schemes. The party's focus on local issues resonated with voters, particularly the middle class and poor who were disenchanted with the AAP's performance. This win is a major setback for the AAP and the INDIA bloc, which has been on a losing streak after its strong performance in the Lok Sabha elections.
The term of the 70-member Assembly ends on February 23, and elections have to held before that to constitute a new House.
The birth anniversary of Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, whose political influence has surged with the passage of time, on Monday was marked by bitter trading of charges between the ruling BJP and opposition parties as they fought for his legacy.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said the speed of work in the national capital will increase manifold following the Supreme Court verdict on administration of services as his hands were earlier tied and also announced that the officers who 'obstructed' the work of the people will soon 'face the music'.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said the arrest of his deputy, Manish Sisodia, by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is dirty politics and asserted that he was innocent.
The Aam Aadmi Party supremo is trying to drum up opposition support over the Delhi government's fight against the Centre over an ordinance on the control of administrative services in the national capital.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal in a rally in Delhi, comparing him to notorious criminal Charles Sobhraj and accusing him of spreading lies about the BJP government in Haryana mixing poison in the Yamuna river. Modi said Kejriwal's claims are an insult to India and that the AAP is desperate due to the fear of defeat in the upcoming Delhi elections. He also highlighted the BJP's track record of fulfilling promises and urged people to give him a chance to serve them. The attack comes as the Delhi election campaign heats up, with the AAP and BJP locked in a tight race.
Just eight months after its good showing in the Lok Sabha polls, the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) seems to be running out of steam with internal bickering and conflicting ambitions resulting in diminishing electoral returns that have once again put the Bharatiya Janata Party in the driver's seat in national politics.
"Arvind Kejriwal spoke directly to Rahul Gandhi (on the ordinance matter) and said if there is any issue, they can resolve it over tea. In the opposition meeting on Friday, Kejriwal said there is a need to forget the differences and move forward together," a party source said.
The court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate SJ Panchal summoned Kejriwal and Singh after the court was informed that the summons issued earlier directing the duo to appear on May 23 does not appear to have been received by them as none of them was present in the court.
On Tuesday, Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann met West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata as part of their nationwide tour to garner support for the AAP's fight against the Centre's ordinance.
As Delhi assembly results were declared on Saturday, here is a look at how prominent leaders fared.
The wrestlers have been protesting for nearly a week demanding action against Singh, also a Bharatiya Janata Party MP, on sexual harassment allegations levelled by seven women players.
The Delhi government's Women and Child Development and Health departments issued public notices on Wednesday distancing themselves from the ruling Aam Aadmi Party's promised schemes of providing Rs 2,100 to women and free treatment for the elderly, triggering a fresh row ahead of assembly polls.
Opposition parties in India, including the Congress, Left parties, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Trinamool Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Shiv Sena (UBT), and NCP (SP), have unanimously hailed the armed forces' "Operation Sindoor", a retaliatory strike against terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The operation, which involved missile and drone strikes, was conducted in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. Despite political differences, all parties expressed support for the government and the armed forces, stressing the importance of national unity and integrity in the face of terrorism. While emphasizing the need for diplomatic avenues to prevent further escalation, some parties also called for caution in attributing political credit for the strikes.
The report on the alleged liquor scam, a hot button issue in the run-up to the elections, claimed a loss of revenue to the tune of Rs 941.53 crore, saying timely permissions were not taken for opening the liquor vends in non-conforming municipal wards.
Locked in a bitter tussle with the Centre over the control of administrative services, Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal will meet the chiefs of the Trinamool Congress, Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray and the Nationalist Congress Party this week seeking their support.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to form its government in Delhi after winning the recent assembly elections. Party leaders have stated that the new chief minister should be chosen from the elected BJP MLAs, with several contenders emerging from the newly-elected members. The decision on the next chief minister is expected to be made after Prime Minister Narendra Modi returns from his foreign visit around February 15.
The BJP welcomed the CBI move, claiming that it had been saying all along that Kejriwal was the 'mastermind of the liquor scam'.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has approached the Gujarat high court seeking a review of its recent order setting aside the Central Information Commission's directive to the Gujarat University to provide information on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's degree to the AAP national convener.
Lok Sabha on Monday turned into a battleground for the Delhi assembly polls with Bharatiya Janata Party member Ramvir Singh Bidhuri launching an all-out attack on the Aam Aadmi Party government, alleging that they 'looted' the national capital and turned it into 'hell'.
Political parties earlier used to seek vote on the basis of caste and religion, said Kejriwal.
The Sena chief said he had to honour "yuti dharma".
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has slammed the Maha Kumbh as a "Mrityu Kumbh" (Death Kumbh), accusing the Uttar Pradesh government of suppressing the actual toll in the stampede that occurred at the religious gathering. Banerjee also criticized the lack of planning and management at the event, highlighting the plight of Bengal residents who died in the stampede. The BJP, however, has condemned Banerjee's remarks, calling her an "anti-Hindu chief minister" and accusing her of political opportunism.
A multi-storey residential building collapsed in northeast Delhi's Shakti Vihar area in the early hours of Saturday, leaving 11 people dead and 11 injured, officials said.
A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti noted that a separate bench of the apex court had junked the plea filed by AAP leader Sanjay Singh on April 8 in the same case, who is a co-accused in the case.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) asked him around 56 questions on the excise policy case and that he answered them all.
Debutant legislator Rekha Gupta was sworn in as Delhi chief minister along with six ministers on Thursday in a grand show of strength full of colour and spectacle to mark the Bharatiya Janata Party's return to power in the city after more than 26 years.
The election of Vijender Gupta, a three-time BJP MLA, as the speaker of the Delhi Assembly has sparked controversy, with AAP members accusing the BJP of being "anti-Dalit and anti-Sikh." The accusations stem from the removal of photographs of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar and Shaheed Bhagat Singh from the chief minister's office, a move condemned by AAP leaders as a display of the BJP's alleged anti-Dalit and anti-Sikh stance.
Punjab Police launched a statewide operation against drugs, conducting raids at more than 750 locations as the cabinet sub-committee on the drug menace held its first meeting on Saturday. Around 12,000 police personnel were involved in the operation being carried out as part of an anti-drug campaign. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday set a deadline of three months to make the state drug-free. The operation led to the arrest of 290 drug smugglers after registration of 232 FIRs. Police recovered 8.14 kg heroin, 1.21 kg opium, 3.5 kg ganja, 19 kg poppy husk, 700 grams charas, 16,238 intoxicant tablets, injections and Rs 8.02 lakh cash.
As opposition leaders like the Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Janata Dal-United supremo and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed solidarity with Kejriwal on Saturday and renewed calls to speed up opposition unity efforts to take on the BJP, officials said the CBI may ask the AAP chief about the policy formulation process, especially of the "untraceable" file which was earlier slated to be put before the Delhi Council of Ministers.
"If there is a valid degree of Modi, why Gujarat University is not showing it," Kejriwal asked.
The upcoming Delhi Assembly polls have taken an interesting turn with the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) engaging in a poster war inspired by the popular film 'Pushpa 2.' The AAP has released a poster featuring Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, while the BJP has countered with a poster featuring state president Virendra Sachdeva, both using imagery and slogans from the film.
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has apologized for using the slang term "thulla" to refer to lower-rank policemen in a recent speech. She said it was not her intention to belittle or denigrate police personnel and that she has immense respect for them. She also attributed her past controversial comments on social media against opposition leaders to her lack of maturity then, saying she is not afraid to accept her mistakes. The opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has strongly criticised Gupta for her remarks in the Assembly on March 28, which it called were an insult to police personnel.
This means the AAP leaders will have to appear before the trial court when it fixes the date of the next hearing.
