News Analysis India

Tag: Delhi Chief Minister

  • AAP alleges Kejriwal weighed thrice in Tihar jail with different machines, not provided cooler

    New Delhi: A day after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal surrendered at the Tihar jail after completion of his interim bail in a money laundering case, the AAP leaders on Monday alleged that he was not provided cooler in his cell in prison and his weight was measured thrice in a “conspiracy”. The Tihar jail authorities refuted the AAP leaders’ claim, saying the chief minister’s weight was taken with one machine only and added that he was not provided cooler because the facility is provided after the court’s order. “The weight of Kejriwal is 63.5 kilogram, which was measured only once when he surrendered on Sunday. There was no problem with the weighing machine. His other vitals, including blood pressure and sugar, are normal,” a senior Tihar jail officer told PTI. In a press conference, senior AAP leader and Delhi minister Atishi claimed that Kejriwal’s weight was measured with three weighing machines during his medical examination in Tihar on Sunday. She also claimed that at a time when temperature in Delhi is ranging from 48 degrees to 50 degrees, Kejriwal was kept in a cell where not even a cooler was provided. AllUttar PradeshMaharashtraTamil NaduWest BengalBiharKarnatakaAndhra PradeshTelanganaKeralaMadhya PradeshRajasthanDelhiOther States “Coolers are provided to even notorious criminals lodged in Tihar. While the popular Chief Minister Kejriwal has not been given the cooler. I want to ask the BJP and the LG how low will they stoop,” she said. Atishi said that Kejriwal suffered from diabetes for 30 years and his weight was falling since last few months, and alleged cruelty against him. “After he surrendered as a law abiding citizen, he has been kept in a heated cell without a cooler. I want to say to the BJP and the prime minister that not even the people of Delhi but the god also will not forgive them for causing atrocities to Kejriwal,” she said. Atishi also alleged that during his medical examination on Sunday, his weight was measured on three machines that showed different readings.

    His weight was found to be 61 kg and the Tihar officials used another machine that showed his weight to be 64 kg. The Tihar officials not satisfied with it used a third machine that showed his weight to be 66.5 kg, she said.

    “His weight was 70 kg when he was arrested by the ED on March 21 and it went down to 63 kg when he was weighed at home before surrendering on Monday. This shows a drop of 7 kg which is a serious matter yet the ED opposed his bail for medical tests,” she said.

    Atishi said Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj will take note of it because there appears to be a “very big conspiracy” behind this.

    The Tihar jail officer said that on May 10 when Kejriwal was released from jail his weight was 64 kg that was measured using the same machine that was used on Sunday.

    The officer said Kejriwal’s BP was measured 120/76 and sugar level remained at 120 on Monday.

    “Kejriwal is given the insulin twice a day and is under a regular watch of two doctors in the prisons,” the officer said.

    The chief minister talked to his wife Sunita Kejriwal through phone on Monday evening, he said.

    On the question of not providing cooler to the chief minister, the jail official said coolers are given to those inmates, who are unwell and the court orders the authorities to do so.

    AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh also in a post on X reiterated the charge that three machines were used to weigh Kejriwal in jail.

    “In the jail, Arvind Kejriwal’s weight was measured thrice with different machines, one showed 61 kg, the second 64 kg, the third 66.5 kg. Whereas when he was weighed at home before leaving, it was 63 kg. What kind of joke is this? LG sahab, please get the machine fixed,” he said in his post.

    Singh also said that Kejriwal was kept in a small cell without any cooler even as temperature was 44 degrees Celsius.

  • Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Free electricity to ‘no’ Agniveer scheme: Arvind Kejriwal announces ’10 guarantees’ for LS polls 2024 – The Economic Times Video

    Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday announced “Kejriwal ki Guarantee”, listing 10 works that will be done on war footing, including to “free” Indian land from Chinese occupation, if the INDIA bloc forms government at the Centre. The opposition bloc, which has parties such as Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Congress, Trinamool Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam among others as its members, was formed to take on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in the Lok Sabha polls.

  • Arvind Kejriwal: “BJP afraid of INDIA bloc”: Jairam Ramesh on arrest of Delhi CM Kejriwal

    Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Saturday took a jibe at the BJP over the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, saying it was ‘afraid’ of the INDIA bloc going into the Lok Sabha elections.

    Speaking to ANI, Ramesh said, “The arrest of Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren and Delhi Chief Minister is an attack on democracy and our constitution.”

    “This is politics of revenge at play. The BJP is afraid of the INDIA alliance. This is an attack on democracy and our constitution,” the Congress leader further said. Launching a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said there is only one thought in the PM’s mind- ‘One Nation No Election’.

    “There is only one thought in the Prime Minister’s mind-‘One Nation, No Election’… The entire country is in OPD-One Person Dictatorship,” he added.

    Earlier, the BJP’s Delhi president Virendraa Sachdeva said the truth surrounding Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s alleged involvement in the liquor scam would soon be revealed.”Law is taking its course…Yesterday he (Arvind Kejriwal) was bargaining in the court that he is the Chief Minister of Delhi, hence he should be given two months but there is a rule of law in the country. The law treats every criminal the same, it is proven today. Soon the truth of Arvind Kejriwal’s involvement in liquor scam will be revealed to everyone,” Sachdeva told ANI.On Friday, Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court sent Kejriwal to ED custody till March 28. The probe agency had asked for 10 days remand after arresting the Delhi CM in the alleged Delhi excise policy case.

    In its arguments before the court, the ED alleged that the Delhi Chief Minister is the key conspirator and kingpin in demanding kickbacks from businessmen. The agency further claimed that Kejriwal was directly involved in the formation of the excise policy.

    The ED counsel claimed that Vijay Nair, who was the media in charge of AAP, was working for Delhi CM Kejriwal. Nair, who the agency said lives adjacent to the residence of Kejriwal, acted as a middleman between the AAP and the South group.

    Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi appearing for Kejriwal opposed the remand plea and submitted that the agency needs to show the necessity of arrest. Singhvi argued that the power of arrest and the necessity of arrest are two different things.

    Kejriwal was arrested by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) in the excise policy case on Thursday after the Delhi High Court refused interim protection to Kejriwal from coercive action in connection with the excise policy case.

    The case pertains to alleged irregularities and money laundering in framing and implementing the Delhi excise policy case 2022, which was later scrapped.

    Two senior AAP leaders, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, are in judicial custody in the excise policy case. Sisodia, who was the then Delhi Deputy Chief Minister, was arrested by the CBI on February 26 following several rounds of questioning. On October 5, ED arrested Sanjay Singh, who is a Rajya Sabha member.

    Kejriwal’s arrest came days after the ED arrested Bharat Rashta Samithi (BRS) leader and daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao K Kavitha, in connection with its investigation into money laundering charges linked to the now-scrapped excise policy. Kavitha is in ED custody till March 23.

  • “World’s biggest party caught stealing votes”, Kejriwal led AAP protests against BJP

    Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal, along with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and other party leaders, protested in Delhi against the BJP over the Chandigarh mayoral elections.”BJP messes up in elections; there were often allegations that BJP wins elections by messing up; BJP steals election votes, tampers with EVMs, gets names removed from the voter list, and adds fake names, we heard. We used to hear that fake votes were cast, but never found any proof. There is a verse written in the Gita, Yada Yada hi Dharmasya Glanirbhavati Bharata: whenever too much sin is committed on this earth, then the God above will come to the earth. This election in Chandigarh shows that they are the pot of sin. How did it get filled? When the pot of sin gets filled too much, then nature moves its broom, God moves its broom, and corrects things. The Chandigarh election was a small one. The world’s biggest party was caught stealing votes in the Chandigarh elections; it was caught red-handed.” said CM Kejriwal at Delhi while addressing the protest.”We have not come here to seek power. Elections keep coming. Parties keep on coming and going. Leaders keep on coming. Leaders keep on coming. Today the BJP is ruling; tomorrow someone else will be. There should not be any playing with our democracy; those who have started playing with the elections, those who are playing with the democracy, were caught on camera,” the CM added.Speaking about the potential misuse of election machinery on a large scale in the Lok Sabha election, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said, “If they can create such a big mess in a small election like Chandigarh, then it is obvious that they can create such a big mess in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, whether it is so or not, no matter how they come in front of the country. This is a wrong thing, so friends, we strongly condemn it and today, from this platform, I want to warn the people of the country that when you come after casting your vote, you think that you voted for a particular party, but after that, your vote gets counted. What happens is nothing; you press someone’s button inside the machine, the vote goes to someone’s account, and someone’s name is removed from the voter list, If democracy is in danger, election are meaningless.”

    “We all have to come together and raise our voice against it, under any circumstances, we should not let democracy die; do not let the country be tampered with. Now we will not make any mess in a peaceful manner; we will peacefully go towards the headquarters of BJP. We will stop wherever the police stop us, we should not not have to quarrel with the police,” said CM Kejriwal.

    Earlier the Delhi Chief Minister skipped the fifth summons from the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the alleged Delhi Liquor scam. Kejriwal and his party have called the summons illegal.The BJP however accused the Delhi CM of running away from the investigative agency.”Arvind Kejriwal, if there is nothing to hide…then why are you not presenting yourself before the ED and other agencies? You are the same Kejriwal who, under Anna Hazare’s tutelage, said that first there should be resignation and then investigation. Today you refuse to cooperate with investigation. You say that these are all politically motivated, as if doing ‘bhrashtachar’ is your ‘shishtachar’…How long will you play this victimhood card?…This is the ‘charitra’ of INDI alliance, that the only thing that binds them is commission and corruption, not a mission or vision” BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala said.

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  • Free education, healthcare are not freebies, says Kejriwal

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday asserted that free education and healthcare are not freebies and said if people are given access to them, India can become the top country in the world.

    Kejriwal was speaking at the Delhi government’s Independence Day event at Chhatrasal Stadium here.

    Asserting that the future belongs to India, he said the country’s 130 crore people need to come together and resolve to make India the number one country in the world.

    “We came together and sent the Britishers out. Today, if we come together, we can make India the top country in the world,” he said.

    Lamenting the fact that many nations that got independence after India surpassed it, he reiterated that education and healthcare are key to becoming a rich country.

    “The tricolour will fly high only when every Indian has access to good healthcare and education. Congratulations to all on 75 years of independence. There is great joy and enthusiasm in the country. The air is filled with patriotism and ‘junoon’,” he said at the event.

    Paying homage to all freedom fighters and those who struggled for the growth and progress of the country, he noted it is time to celebrate progress in various fields.

    “But we need to think over challenges and our future course. Many are asking why many countries got past (us) in 75 years. Singapore that got independence 15 years after India and Japan that was destroyed in the Second World War got ahead of us. We are no less than others. Indians are the most intelligent, hardworking people in the world but still we have lagged,” he added.

    He concluded his address by singing ‘Hum Honge Kamyaab’.

    NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday asserted that free education and healthcare are not freebies and said if people are given access to them, India can become the top country in the world.

    Kejriwal was speaking at the Delhi government’s Independence Day event at Chhatrasal Stadium here.

    Asserting that the future belongs to India, he said the country’s 130 crore people need to come together and resolve to make India the number one country in the world.

    “We came together and sent the Britishers out. Today, if we come together, we can make India the top country in the world,” he said.

    Lamenting the fact that many nations that got independence after India surpassed it, he reiterated that education and healthcare are key to becoming a rich country.

    “The tricolour will fly high only when every Indian has access to good healthcare and education. Congratulations to all on 75 years of independence. There is great joy and enthusiasm in the country. The air is filled with patriotism and ‘junoon’,” he said at the event.

    Paying homage to all freedom fighters and those who struggled for the growth and progress of the country, he noted it is time to celebrate progress in various fields.

    “But we need to think over challenges and our future course. Many are asking why many countries got past (us) in 75 years. Singapore that got independence 15 years after India and Japan that was destroyed in the Second World War got ahead of us. We are no less than others. Indians are the most intelligent, hardworking people in the world but still we have lagged,” he added.

    He concluded his address by singing ‘Hum Honge Kamyaab’.

  • No alliances with parties, want to partner 130 crore Indians, says Arvind Kejriwal

    By PTI

    NAGPUR: Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said his party would not ally with other outfits as it intended to partner with 130 crore people of India.

    Speaking on ‘Aam Aadmi Party and its role in 2024 Lok Sabha elections as part of a lecture series organised to mark the golden jubilee of the Nagpur edition of daily Lokmat, Kejriwal also said that he didn’t want to defeat anyone in politics but sought to make India the number one country in the world.

    He said the AAP will usher in progress by constructing hospitals and schools. “Many people ask me with whom will we do a national alliance. I do not know how to do politics. I don’t understand alliances of 10 and 20 parties to defeat anyone. I don’t want to defeat anyone, I want the country to win. I will only enter into an alliance with 130 crore people of the country to make India number one in the world,” he said.

    Without naming the BJP, the Delhi chief minister said a “huge party” was currently vociferously supporting hooliganism, engineering riots, and taking out welcome processions for rapists.

    “The country cannot progress with this type of hooliganism. If you want hooliganism and riots you can go with them, but if you want to progress, schools and hospitals you can come with me. Let us ally with 130 crore common people,” he asserted.

    Kejriwal said the AAP’s focus was not on the 2024 Lok Sabha polls but on working for the country, adding that people like him had come after leaving their careers to serve the country.

    India must become the number one country in the world as soon as possible, Kejriwal said, adding that he wanted to play an important role in this quest.

    Countering the charge of indulging in freebie politics, the Delhi CM said that money meant for public welfare used to be consumed by corruption, and his government, by stopping corruption and saving money therein was giving people free electricity and other amenities.

    Highlighting the AAP’s work in Delhi in the education sector, Kejriwal said government schools had a pass percentage of 99.7 per cent in Class XII exams, leaving private schools way behind.

    “A total of 4 lakh students left private schools and joined government schools in Delhi. These include rich people as facilities provided in government schools are not available even in private ones,” he said.

    In the last three years, 450 government school students were getting admissions annually to the prestigious IITs, the Delhi CM said, adding that such developments rather than politics gave him satisfaction.

    Vijay Darda, chairman, editorial board, Lokmat Media Group, spoke about how his group helped people amid COVID-19 with many staffers also succumbing to the infection. He also expressed hope that Nagpur will one day become the capital of a separate Vidarbha state.

  • DDMA meeting underway to review Covid-19 situation in Delhi

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: A review meeting over the Covid-19 of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) is underway in the national capital to decide on the more restriction to be imposed in the city amid the increase in the cases.

    Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal is chairing the meeting.

    Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Health Minister Satyendar Jain, Revenue Minister Kailash Gehlot, Chief Secretary Vijay Dev, and several health department officials are present in the meeting.

    DDMA in its last meeting had decided to impose a weekend lockdown in Delhi.

    DDMA last week ordered the closure of schools, colleges, cinemas, and gyms with immediate effect and put various restrictions on the functioning of shops and public transport as a yellow alert was sounded under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).

    The night curfew has also been imposed from 10 pm (earlier 11 pm) to 5 am in the national capital.

    Delhi had logged 22,751 new Covid-19 cases during the last 24 hours, the state health department informed on Sunday.

    As per a bulletin issued by the health department, the positivity rate for the day stands at 23.53 per cent.

    With this, the total cases of the Covid-19 in the city have gone up to 15,49,730 including 60,733 active cases.

    As many as 10,179 people recovered from the infection during the last 24 hours, taking the total recoveries in the national capital to 14,63,837.

    However, the city also reported 17 Covid-related deaths in the last 24 hours. So far, 25,160 people have succumbed to the infection in Delhi. 

  • Delhi govt looking at minimum restrictions so that livelihoods are protected: Kejriwal

    'Rising Covid cases are a matter of concern but there is no need to panic.'

  • Delhi CM attacked with chilli powder in secretariat: Officials

    A man flung chilli powder at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal outside his office in the Delhi Secretariat on Tuesday, an attack the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) described as “politically motivated”.

    The man, Anil Kumar, who has been detained, was targeting the bespectacled chief minister’s eyes, officials said.

    His spectacles broke but his eyes seemed to have been spared any damage, they added.

    Kumar, whose Aadhaar card has been recovered, brought the chilli powder to the secretariat in packets of ‘khaini’, or chewing tobacco, they said.

    After throwing red pepper powder on Kejriwal, Kumar threatened to shoot him after he comes out of jail, an official recounted.

    The attack took place outside the chief minister’s chamber on the third floor when he was leaving for lunch.

    While AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj accused the BJP, leader of the saffron party’s Delhi unit Manoj Tiwari condemned the attack and called for a “high-level” probe.

    According to Bhardwaj, the attack happened at the chief minister’s office, which is a “high-security” zone. He said it was a serious matter and termed the attack “politically motivated”.

    “The BJP is behind the attack and the accused are being aided by the Modi government,” Bhardwaj alleged.

    The Delhi BJP chief said such incidents “cannot be tolerated or justified by anybody”.

    “This calls for a high-level probe,” Tiwari said.

    Officials close to Kejriwal accused the Delhi Police of being lax in providing him  security and alleged that this was the third attempt to harm him in less than a month.

    The AAP alleged that water bottles were thrown at Kejriwal by Tiwari at the inauguration ceremony of Signature Bridge earlier this month.

    “Around the time of Dussehra, an unidentified man had barged inside Kejriwal’s residence and had tried to attack the CM,” Bhardwaj added.