News Analysis India

Tag: aap

  • After Surat victory, AAP eyes 2022 Gujarat assembly elections

    By Express News Service
    MUMBAI:  Days, after the AAP won 27 seats in the elections to Surat Municipal Corporation in Gujarat, party chief, and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on Friday, took out a roadshow in the industrial city to thank the electorate. 

    BJP retained power in all six municipal corporations in Gujarat after the polls. In Surat, the AAP came second with 27 seats while the BJP bagged 93 of the 120 seats. The Congress, which had won 36 seats last time, drew a blank.

    ALSO READ | Kejriwal highlights Surat ‘victory’, says only AAP can defeat BJP

    During his address to the party corporators here, Kejriwal said, “The people of Gujarat are watching you with great hope. In our first attempt, AAP won 28 Assembly seats in Delhi and came to power. People trusted us because they knew we are true patriots”

    “In the 49 days of our rule, we did a lot of pro-people work. As a result, the people of Delhi gave us 67 seats in the second election. Now, six crore people of Gujarat will observe the work of 27 AAP corporators. If you perform well, I am sure there will be a huge revolution in 2022,” Kejriwal added.

    ALSO READ | BJP, Congress afraid of people who voted for AAP in Gujarat, says Arvind Kejriwal

    Kejriwal also warned the corporators of BJP contacting them to switch sides. “I am sure that BJP people will call you. But remember, our true wealth is people’s trust. If anyone of you switches side, it will break the trust of six crore people.”

  • BJP, Congress afraid of people who voted for AAP in Gujarat, says Arvind Kejriwal

    By ANI
    SURAT: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said that BJP and Congress are afraid of the people who voted for the AAP in the local body polls in Gujarat.

    “I have been listening to statements of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, over the past few days after the results. They are perturbed and a little scared. We have to understand that they are not scared of you or AAP. They are scared of people who voted for you,” Kejriwal said addressing the newly elected corporators in Surat.

    Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal met newly elected corporators of the party and its volunteers here, after getting a rise in the local body elections in the state.

    Addressing the event, Arvind Kejriwal asked the reason of being BJP always the ruling party in the state for the last 25 years.

    “Why has BJP been governing here for the last 25 years? It is not because of they are doing great but because there is no opposition. People of the state are facing a lot of issues but when they saw option (AAP) against the BJP, they applauded you (by making AAP win),” he said.

    The BJP on February 23 put up a spectacular performance in the Gujarat municipal corporation elections improving its numbers over the 2016 polls and nearly decimating the Congress. The party has retained power in all municipal corporations, which went to the polls. The performance appears all the more credible as BJP has been in power in the state for the last 25 years.

    Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) put up a fight in Surat where it won 27 seats in its first outing. The BJP secured 93 out of the 120 seats in Surat, while the AAP secured 27. Congress and other parties did not win any seats. 

  • Gujarat civic polls: Kejriwal thanks people of state as party wins 27 seats; to hold roadshow in Surat

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday thanked the people of Gujarat after his party registered impressive gains in the civic body polls in the state and bagged 27 seats.

    He said that the people of Gujarat have “rejected the centuries-old politics of Congress and chosen the Aam Aadmi Party as the main opposition party, which proves that they want politics of development and work in the state”.

    ALSO READ | Congress’ fall in Gujarat civic polls detrimental to democracy: Sanjay Raut

    “The AAP has breached BJP’s citadel in Surat after it bagged 27 seats in the municipal corporation. I would like to thank the people of Gujarat from the bottom of my heart.

    The people of Surat have handed over the responsibility to the Aam Aadmi Party as the main opposition party and rejected the 125-year old Congress,” he said.

    “I want to assure you, that every volunteer of ours will fulfill each of his responsibility with full honesty and dedication.

    Gujarat has introduced a phase of new politics, which is politics of honesty, politics of work, politics of improved schools and hospitals, and politics of 24×7 free electricity,” he added.

    Kejriwal will hold a road show in Surat on February 26 to thank people for voting for the AAP.

    “We will change the face of Gujarat in coordination with the people of the state. I am coming to Surat on February 26, to personally meet and thank all of you,” the CM said.

  • Gujarat municipal election results show beleaguered Congress yet to arrest poll slide

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  Amidst internal turmoil and leadership issues, the Congress remains beset with the challenge of electoral slide as seen in Gujarat where the party gave tough fight to the BJP in 2017 Assembly elections. The infighting in the Gujarat Congress has eroded its electoral base with several MLAs crossing over to the BJP since 2017.

    The party even lost the hard fought Rajya Sabha seat of Ahmed Patel, who passed away last year, to the BJP. Many leaders questioned the ticket distribution and how various factions ensured that their aides bagged the seats over deserving candidates.

    ALSO READ: Elated with Gujarat debut, Aam Aadmi Party plans roadshow in Surat

    Calling it a worrying trend, a senior leader said at national level, the high command is struggling to firefight rebellion by some seniors seeking organisational elections and differences over leadership issues.

    All eyes will now be on the elections in Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.  The setback in Gujarat comes a day after the party’s government fell in Puducherry. 

    ALSO READ: Gujarat civic polls – PM Modi says results show people’s faith in politics of development

    In the past few months, the party won local body polls in Rajasthan and Punjab while it was pushed to fourth position behind the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, the BJP and the AIMIM in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation polls in December last year.

    The underperformance by the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), which is looking to form the government in Kerala, in the recently held local body elections is already worrying the state unit. 

    ALSO READ: AIMIM wins seven seats in Ahmedabad civic body on Gujarat poll debut

    In November last year, the Congress turned out to be weak link for the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar. In 2020, the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh fell following rebellion by Jyotiraditya Scindia and party MLAs. It failed to perform better in the bypolls.       

    In Rajasthan, the Ashok Gehlot government was saved at the eleventh hour after the CM took control following a botched move by his deputy Sachin Pilot to topple the government on the lines of Madhya Pradesh. The party has failed to settle things between the two leaders.   

  • AAP’s ‘Kisan Mahasammelan’ in Punjab’s Moga on March 21; Kejriwal to address

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: Punjab’s main opposition party AAP on Monday said it will organise a “Kisan Mahasammelan” in Moga district on March 21 in support of the ongoing farmers’ agitation against the Centre’s contentious agri laws.

    Party’s national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will address the event, it said.

    Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at Delhi border points for nearly three months to press for the repeal of the three agri laws enacted in September last year and a legal guarantee on the minimum support price (MSP).

    “AAP has decided to hold a ‘Kisan Mahasammelan’ at Bagha Purana in Moga on March 21 in order to further strengthen the ongoing farmers’ agitation,” party MP Bhagwant Mann said while addressing the media in Jalandhar district.

    He said farmers from across Punjab will be invited to participate in the event.

    “We want Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal to take part in this ‘mahasammelan’,” added Mann, flanked by AAP leaders Jarnail Singh, Raghav Chadha and MLA Harpal Singh Cheema.

    Later, Raghav Chadha said Kejriwal will address the ‘mahasammelan’.

    “@AAPPunjab to organise ‘KISAN MAHASAMMELAN’ at Bagha Purana in Moga District, Punjab on 21st March 2021, to be addressed by AAP National Convener and Delhi CM Sh.@ArvindKejriwal,” said Chadha in a tweet.

    The Aam Aadmi Party has been vocal about its support for the farmers’ agitation.

    Kejriwal is set to address a “Kisan Mahapanchayat” in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut on February 28.

    Mann said the Centre should withdraw the three farm laws and provide a legal guarantee on MSP.

    The government has said the new farm laws will benefit farmers by freeing them from the clutches of the middlemen and ushering in new technology in the sector.

    However, farmers say these legislations will remove the safety net of MSP and leave them at the mercy of big corporates.

    Meanwhile, Mann who is president of Punjab’s AAP unit said the party also held a meeting with the candidates who had contested the recently held state civic body polls.

  • Agri laws are death warrant for farmers, says Kejriwal in meeting with protesting unions

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: AAP convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal met farmer leaders from Western UP on Sunday and demanded that the BJP-ruled central government withdraw the three farm laws, terming them “death warrant” for farmers.

    The meeting came ahead of a ‘Kisan Mahapanchayat’ that Kejriwal is scheduled to address on February 28 in Western UP’s Meerut.

    The AAP has already announced that it is contesting the Assembly polls in UP in 2022 and this will be the first major appearance of Kejriwal in the poll-bound state.

    Over 40 farmer leaders from Western UP region that has been active in the farm laws protests at Delhi borders, specially Ghazipur border point with neighbouring UP, attended the meeting held at Delhi Assembly premises.

    “These anti-farmer laws are death warrants to the farmers. With the implementation of these laws the crops will go to the hands of a few industrialists and the farmers of India will become labourers in their own land.”

    “The central government should immediately withdraw all the three black laws and extend legal guarantee of MSP on all the 23 crops following the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission,” the AAP chief said.

    The government should talk to the farmers.

    If the government does not listen to the farmers then who will, he questioned.

    No representative of Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), which is leading the protest against farm laws at Delhi borders for nearly three months, was present in the meeting, sources said.

    The outfit has already declared its agitation as non-political one.

    “Meerut Kisan mahapanchayat on February 28 will be joined by the farmers in large numbers. Discussion on the three farm laws will take place during that Mahapanchayat where immediate rollback of these laws brought by the BJP-ruled central government will be demanded by the farmers,” Kejriwal said.

    The BJP is continuously saying that these laws will benefit the farmers but its leaders have yet not clarified how, he added.

    Talking to the media, farmer leader Rohit Jakhar of Rashtriya Jat Mahasangh said that while the UP government cut electricity and water supply at the Ghazipur protest site, Kejriwal’s government supported farmers’ protest by providing them water and toilets.

    “Our support will go to those who will talk about our problems. The BJP government has hurt our self respect, we will give our reply through our votes,” Jakhar said.

    He said Kejriwal gave respect to the farmer leaders just as Lord Krishna gave respect to his friend, Sudama, and asserted the agitation will continue till the Centre fulfills farmers demands.

    Another participant of the meeting, Chaudhary Yashpal Singh, said, “Arvind Kejriwal has assured us support.”

    The meeting was also attended by Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel, Cabinet ministers Kailash Gehlot and Rajendra Pal Gautam, Rajya Sabha MP  Sanjay Singh and MLA Dilip Pandey.

  • Gujarat AAP chief Gopal Italia surrenders before police, gets bail

    By PTI
    AHMEDABAD: A local court on Tuesday granted a regular bail to Aam Aadmi Party’s Gujarat unit chief Gopal Italia after he surrendered before the police in a case related to unlawful assembly and a scuffle during a public meeting attended by the party’s MLA from Delhi, Atishi.

    Italia was granted regular bail by the court of additional chief metropolitan magistrate RB Marfatiya on a bond of Rs 10,000.

    An FIR was registered against Italia and three others with Gujarat University police station in Ahmedabad last month under sections 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to public servant), 143 (unlawful assembly), 146 (violence by an unlawful assembly), and 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code, AAP’s legal cell head Pranav Thakkar said.

    They were booked following an alleged scuffle with the police at the public meeting, he said, adding that the AAP had obtained a persmission from the police to hold that meeting.

    Three other accused had earlier surrendered before the police and were granted bail by court.

    Italia’s anticipatory bail plea was rejected by a sessions court, after which he moved the High Court.

    After returning from Delhi, Italia surrendered before Ahmedabad police on early Tuesday morning, following which he was produced in the metropolitan court, Thakkar said.

  • Tweet in favour of protesting farmers: AAP to Sachin Tendulkar

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: AAP leader Preeti Sharma Menon has written a letter to cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar asking him to tweet in favour of protesting farmers as demanded by a young man who reportedly protested outside the former India captains residence here on Monday.

    Sharma Menon said the man, Ranjeet Bagal, came all the way from Pandharpur in Solapur district, around 400km from Mumbai, to request Tendulkar to put out at least one tweet in support of the farmers protesting against the Centre’s new agriculture laws near Delhi for more than two months now.

    In a photo shared by the AAP, Bagal can be seen holding in his hands a poster which questions Tendulkar when he will tweet in support of farmers.

    आम आदमी पार्टी च्या राष्ट्रीय नेत्या प्रीति शर्मा मेनन यांनी सचिन तेंडुलकर यांना पत्र लिहून शेतकऱ्यांच्या समर्थनार्थ ट्वीट करण्याची विनंती केली आहे.#म@AAPMaharashtra @PreetiSMenon #Farmers#KisanAndolan pic.twitter.com/RmqhmvkNeb
    — Dhananjay RamKrishna Shinde (@Dhananjay4AAP) February 8, 2021

    The poster also bears the name of the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, a farmer organisation led by former MP Raju Shetti.

    Preeti Sharma Menon has endorsed Ranjeet’s request and has written an open letter to Sachin Tendulkar, imploring him to tweet in favour of our farmers who are protesting, a statement from the AAP said.

    Several celebrities, including Tendulkar, and legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar, recently rallied around the central government on social media using hashtags #IndiaTogether and #IndiaAgainstPropaganda following tweets by American pop singer Rihanna and climate activist Greta Thunberg who had backed the agitating farmers.

  • Centre should accept protesting farmers’ demands: Sisodia

    The AAP leader also alleged that the ruling BJP has brought these laws for the benefit of some corporates by ignoring the interests of farmers.

  • Congress made deal with BJP to not raise farmers’ protest issue in Parliament: AAP MP Sanjay Singh

    After being marshalled out of Rajya Sabha, Singh asked the Congress to clarify its stand on the farm laws enacted by the Centre recently.