Sahim Salim captures the mood at Ramlila Ground where Baba Ramdev launched his indefinite fast against corruption and black money on Saturday.
It was a battle of wits between the Delhi police and Baba Ramdev in the crackdown on protestors and the yoga guru on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday. Sahim Salim reports
Ten men were arrested in connection with the violence at Ramlila Maidan during police action against Baba Ramdev and his followers while they were protesting against corruption.
Top Congress leaders attacked the BJP and election commissioners at a rally in Delhi, alleging election irregularities and demanding action against those involved in 'vote chori'.
Toral Varia and Rajesh Karkera visit Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi and find that Anna Hazare is the new brand being marketed by street vendors.
Yoga guru Ramdev on Monday alleged in the Supreme Court that Home Minister P Chidambaram was behind the midnight crackdown on him and his followers during the protests on the issue of black money at the Ramlila Maidan in June.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) will file a fresh charge sheet against Congress leaders Sonia and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald money laundering case after taking cognisance of the latest Delhi Police FIR.
Justice Subramonium Prasad asked the organisation to give the list of speakers at the event to the Delhi Police and listed the case for further hearing on Thursday.
The BJP will hold a legislature party meeting on Wednesday evening to decide the new chief minister of Delhi. The party won the February 5 assembly elections, ending the Aam Aadmi Party's five-year rule. The meeting will be held at the party's Delhi unit office and is expected to begin around 7 pm. The 48 BJP MLAs will choose the Leader of the House in the Delhi Assembly, who will become the chief minister. The meeting will be held in the presence of BJP's central observers, whose names are yet to be declared. The new chief minister, after being chosen by the party MLAs, will meet Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena at the Raj Niwas to stake claim to power. A grand swearing-in ceremony of the new government is scheduled for Thursday afternoon at Ramleela Ground. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other dignitaries are expected to attend the ceremony. The names doing the rounds for the new chief minister include Parvesh Verma, Vijender Gupta, Satish Upadhyay, Pawan Sharma, Ashish Sood, Rekha Gupta, Shikha Rai, Ravinder Indraj Singh, and Kailash Gangwal. Many within the party believe that the BJP leadership could choose a "dark horse" as Delhi's next chief minister.
In seniority in the BJP leadership team, V K Malhotra, who passed into the ages this week, was next only to Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L K Advani and Nanaji Deshmukh, notes Sudhir Bisht.
The newly-formed Delhi Cabinet in its first meeting approved the implementation of the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme in the national capital. The cabinet also decided to present 14 pending CAG reports in the first session of the assembly. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said that the previous AAP government did not allow the health scheme in the city, preventing the people from availing its benefits.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of farmer organisations that spearheaded a protest at Delhi's borders in 2020-21 against three agriculture laws that have since been repealed, has said a resolution will be passed at the 'Kisan Mazdoor Mahapanchayat' to 'intensify the fight' against the Centre's policies.
Their leader is now Lalu Prasad Yadav, a convict in several corruption cases, he added.
'Skirmishes with officials in the Press Information Bureau were an everyday affair as the newspapers sought clearances from the media censors for publishing the next day's editions'
Kapil Mishra, a former AAP member and a vocal critic of the BJP, RSS, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has undergone a complete political transformation, becoming a controversial figure often regarded as the "posterboy of Hindutva." He has now been inducted as a minister in the newly formed Delhi government, marking a significant shift in his political allegiance and raising questions about his role in shaping the city's future.
Supporters of the Indian Secular Front (ISF) clashed with police in West Bengal on Monday during protests against the Waqf (Amendment) Act, leading to several injuries and the torching of multiple police vehicles. The clash occurred after police stopped ISF supporters from attending an anti-Waqf Act rally in Kolkata. The protests escalated when the crowd attempted to break through police barricades. The situation was brought under control after a large police force was deployed. ISF leader Naushad Siddique condemned the Waqf Act and accused the BJP of trying to incite communal tension. Meanwhile, the ruling Trinamool Congress dismissed the ISF as a "party of no consequence." Communal violence related to the Waqf Act has also occurred in other parts of West Bengal.
Action will be taken against erring police personnel involved in midnight crackdown on yoga guru Ramdev and his supporters at the Ramlila ground last June after identifying them, he government told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
Delhi Police has given permission to the farmers to hold their 'Kisan Mazdoor Mahapanchayat' with the condition of gathering not exceeding to 5,000, no tractor trolleys, no march at the Ramlila Maidan, and made elaborate security arrangements that may lead to a heavy traffic jam in the national capital on March 14, officials on Wednesday said.
The protesters who had gathered under the banner of the Joint Forum for Restoration of Old Pension Scheme and National Joint Council of Action said they were worried about their post-retirement future.
Due to a 'Kisan Mazdoor Mahapanchayat' convened by farmers at the Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi on Thursday, the Delhi Police has beefed up security and deployed heavy force for checking vehicles, which might lead to traffic snarls in the central parts of the city, officials said.
From medicines to medical check-ups; air-coolers at the Maidan to the overhead waterproof tents; from meals to snacks everything at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi is being taken care of by protestors themselves. Contributions, both in the form of cash and service, are pouring in at Ramlila Maidan for the Anna Hazare-led anti-corruption protests.
Amidst speculations that the number of protestors at the Ramlila Ground in Delhi will dwindle at the end of the extended weekend, people turned up in large numbers on Tuesday to support Anna Hazare who is on an indefinite fast to press for a stronger Lokpal Bill.
The city police told the Delhi high court on Friday they have granted permission to Mission Save Constitution, an organisation that claims to be working for protection of citizen rights, to hold an 'All India Muslim Mahapanchayat' at the Ramlila grounds on December 18 subject to certain conditions for safe and smooth conduct of the event.
"Pained" over media reports and complaints alleging "unconstitutional police action" on Baba Ramdev's supporters, the National Human Rights Commission on Monday asked the Union and Delhi governments to submit reports within two weeks on the midnight crackdown at Delhi's Ramlila ground.
'What does Indira Gandhi want from me? At this age, what will I do to her?'
The midnight crackdown on Ramdev and his followers at the Ramlila ground during their protest against corruption was a result of "entire mess" created by them and yoga guru should take "responsibility" for it, Delhi Police told the Supreme Court on Friday.
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.
In what may be a serious allegation against the Delhi police, the organisers of Baba Ramdev's Ramlila grounds protest have claimed that the CCTV footages of the events surrounding the yoga guru's arrest are missing.
The bulldozer, part of the procession organised by the Adarsh Ramlila Committee, was on Monday stopped by police who termed its participation unauthorised and a new tradition.
Bihar's Janata Dal (United) State President, Vasisht Narain Singh, on Monday demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on moral grounds over the forceful eviction of yoga guru Baba Ramdev and his followers from Delhi's Ramlila grounds on Saturday.
A vacation bench of justices B S Chauhan and Swatenter Kumar issued notices to the Union Home Secretary, Chief Secretary of Delhi, Delhi administration, and Delhi Police Commissioner asking them to respond within two weeks.
Bharat Swabhiman Trust headed by yoga guru Ramdev on Monday accused the Delhi police in the Supreme Court of playing a communal card at the behest of its superiors as one of the grounds for the midnight crack down on him and his followers at the Ramlila ground.
Cabinet ministers and TV actors will try to bring to life the aeons-old story of Lord Ram at the 10-day-long Ramlila in New Delhi, which has been promised to be bigger than ever by its organisers.
First-time MLA Rekha Gupta will be the new chief minister of Delhi, capping 11 days of suspense over who will get the top post after the Bharatiya Janata Party returned to power after over 26 years ending the 10-year rule of the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party.
With Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal having been sent to judicial custody till April 15 by a city court in connection with the excise policy case, buzz over his replacement intensified even as his party leaders asserted that he will continue to head the government no matter how long he stays in jail.
In her maiden speech at a political rally, Sunita also asked people whether Kejriwal should resign as Chief Minister.
Glimpses from the Congress party's Halla Bol rally at the Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi on Sunday, September 4, 2022
Ramlila performances, where the epic Ramayan is enacted, are a common sight. The climax of the festival often involves the symbolic burning of giant effigies of Ravan, Kumbhakaran and Meghnad.
The ground, which served as the battleground for the 51-year-old bureaucrat-turned-politician during the Anna Hazare-led India Against Corruption movement, is getting decked up and workers are busy making arrangements.
Poonam and Deepak kept the body parts of Anjan Das in a fridge and would dispose them of at different places in east Delhi.
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