Aam Aadmi Party MPs boycotted President Droupadi Murmu's address to the joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on Thursday to protest against the arrest of party convenor Arvind Kejriwal.
'A government whose policies are focused around making the life of ordinary citizens, specially the most deprived sections, richer; a government that prioritises education, health and transport, that doesn't treat its citizens as subjects who must come to it for everything, is rare in our country.' 'When such a government is thrown out, one is left stunned,' notes Jyoti Punwani.
Kailash Gahlot, a senior leader and Delhi Transport Minister, has resigned from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), citing recent controversies facing the party and unfulfilled promises. Gahlot, the MLA from Najafgarh, tendered his resignation from the council of ministers and the party's primary membership. He alleged that the AAP was busy fighting for its own agenda instead of the people's rights, hindering basic services in Delhi.
Former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia was on Friday questioned for over three hours by the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) in an alleged graft case related to the construction of classrooms in government schools here, officials said.
'If the INDIA bloc ever forms the government, they will be more than tempted to use such provisions to bring about regime change in BJP-ruled states.'
'If the BJP seriously addresses employment, examination integrity and systemic corruption, they might salvage their position. Otherwise, they are heading toward serious trouble in 2027.'
Various constituents of the INDIA bloc condemned Kejriwal's arrest and claimed that the BJP is scared of the outcome of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls and acting out of panic to create problems for the opposition.
'I want to ask the entire nation and the opposition. Can a Chief Minister, Prime Minister, or any leader run the country from jail?'
BJP strategists are missing something somewhere, and they have not acknowledged it, to be able to repair it in good time, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The BJP has demanded the intervention of the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi in the renaming of the official 'CMO Delhi' handle on X to 'Arvind Kejriwal At Work', alleging that the change was made at the behest of the former chief minister. The party accused Arvind Kejriwal of misusing public funds for his own digital propaganda and demanded legal action against him. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) responded by urging the BJP to focus on governing Delhi instead of making "baseless allegations."
The over two-minute campaign song, penned and sung by AAP MLA Dilip Pandey, was released at the party headquarters in New Delhi on Thursday.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday demanded that Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa reveal the source of his claim that 50 bombs had reached the state, questioning if he had direct links with Pakistan. Bajwa, who had made the statement in a TV interview, said he cooperated with police but refused to divulge his sources. The police visited Bajwa's residence and questioned him about his statement. Mann also sought a clarification from the Congress party, saying the government will take strict action if Bajwa's statement was meant only to "create panic."
The Aam Aadmi Party has charged that the ordinance, promulgated Friday night, "overturns" the May 11 apex court order giving the elected government in Delhi the control over services matter. The development has set the stage for an intense confrontation between the Arvind Kejriwal dispensation and the Centre and the Lt Governor.
The results of the assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh are also likely to play out during the start of the session.
A day after Arvind Kejriwal demanded an open probe into his allegation on spending of India Against Corruption funds by Aam Admi Party, Anna Hazare on Tuesday said he was mainly concerned about "misuse" of his name in poll campaign and maintained the two are "not enemies".
Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira was arrested by the Punjab Police in connection with a 2015 drugs case on Thursday morning, official sources said.
This comes after the agency conducted searches at his residence earlier in the day in connection with the case.
AAP national spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj slammed the BJP and Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena, claiming that 'facts are being twisted' to 'shield its members'.
'Now Modi ji is saying it is his guarantee that every corrupt person will be made a minister'
The recovery notice issued by the Directorate of Information and Publicity (DIP) also includes the interest on the amount and makes it mandatory for the ruling party in Delhi to pay the whole amount within 10 days, the sources said.
The Aam Aadmi Party claimed on Wednesday that the Bharatiya Janata Party has approached four of its legislators in Delhi, asking them to switch sides and join the saffron party or else, face 'false cases, the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) and the ED (Enforcement Directorate)'.
The Aam Aadmi Party alleged on Wednesday that its Surat East candidate Kanchan Jariwala was abducted at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which "feared" a defeat from the seat during the Gujarat assembly election.
A picture of arrested Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain with a harried and weary look circulating on social media on Friday drew sharp reactions from Aam Aadmi Party leaders and supporters.
The Election Commission on Wednesday asked the Gujarat chief electoral officer to inquire and take action "as warranted" after the Aam Aadmi Party alleged that its Surat (East) candidate was abducted and coerced by the Bharatiya Janata Party to withdraw from the poll fray.
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday accused Bharatiya Janata Party of wanting to have 'unconstitutional' control over Delhi officers to have leverage over the city government.
'I thought AAP will uphold administrative fairness which is not there. And it is an indication of the fact that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely'
Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena has recommended an NIA probe against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for allegedly receiving political funding from the banned terrorist organisation 'Sikhs for Justice', Raj Niwas sources said on Monday.
Gandhi said the debate would end after these two questions only, but he also wants to ask the prime minister why did he ask the public to bang plates and flash mobile phones when people were suffering from the Covid pandemic.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta is likely to hear the matter in which Kejriwal has admitted that he "committed a mistake" by retweeting the alleged defamatory video.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday took the Congress to the cleaners over making the 2024 general elections about the protection of the Constitution, saying Indians voted on the plank only once when they threw out the Indira Gandhi government in 1977 after the Emergency.
He also alleged that Dalit MLAs, minister or councillors of the AAP were not given any respect.
While the BJP alleged that the arrest of its leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga was part of Kejriwal's vendetta politics, the AAP rejected the charge and said that Bagga has been arrested for trying to stoke communal tension and violence in Punjba.
The high court said he was a very powerful and influential person within the power corridors of the Delhi government as he had the responsibility of 18 portfolios in the city dispensation.
'The present case is a classic case of how the ruling party led central government has misused the central agency- Enforcement Directorate and its wide powers under PMLA to crush its biggest political opponent -Aam Aadmi Party and its leaders'
Rajnath said the opposition parties were trying to cover up their own "mistakes and weaknesses".
In April 2016, the then CIC M Sridhar Acharyulu had directed the Delhi University and the Gujarat University to provide information to Kejriwal on the degrees that Modi received.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta is likely to hear the matter.
Consolidating its position, the Bharatiya Janata Party wrested high-profile Rampur and Azamgarh Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh from the Samajwadi Party and won three assembly seats, including that of Chief Minister Manik Saha, in Tripura in by-election results announced on Sunday.
Voting for the bypolls in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Tamil Nadu were held on Wednesday.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday alleged the BJP-led central government wanted to arrest him and prevent from campaigning for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, saying the ED summons issued to him was aimed at hurting his "biggest asset", honesty, and defaming him..
