News Analysis India

Tag: Kejriwal

  • Kejriwal seeks a chance to construct schools, hospitals in UP  

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: Launching his party poll campaign in the state capital on Sunday, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP’s national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday assured the people of Uttar Pradesh that if given a chance his party government would invest in constructing schools and hospitals unlike other regimes who spend the money on ‘Shamshan and Kabristan.’

    Addressing a public rally, Kejriwal referred to PM Narendra Modi as BJP’s biggest leader who had woven his 2017 poll narrative around Shamshan and Kabristan. “BJP’s biggest leader had said in 2017 that if Kabristan was built, Shamshan should also get constructed. Previous governments got the shamshan and kabristan constructed. Give us the opportunity to make what we know the best — to construct schools and hospitals,” said the AAP chief.

    UP CM Yogi Adityanath has been asserting in his rallies across the state that unlike previous governments who spent money on forming the boundary wall of kabristans during their tenure, his government had fortified the seats of faith by spending on Kashi Vishwanath Corridor and makeover of Ayodhya.

    Drawing credit for his COVID management, Kejriwal claimed that he received accolades at international level where as Yogi government failed miserably to help people during the pandemic last year. “People kept on dying on raids due to lack of oxygen and the state government could give them neither the treatment nor the oxygen. UP had the worst COVID management in the world,” he claimed.

    Referring to the free electricity promise by other parties like Samajwadi Party also, Kejriwal claimed that it was only AAP which had the formula to make the electricity free without financial burden on government. “Only we can do it,” he said.

    It may be recalled that SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, on Saturday,  had promised the people of UP 300 units of free electricity and making the power altogether free for the farmers for irrigation if his party was voted back to power.

    The AAP chief also took a swipe on Yogi Adityanath for splurging on advertising of his government. “In Delhi, there are 850 posters of Yogi Adityanath, while  we have got only 105 posters,” he said.

    For this rally, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders have traveled all over Uttar Pradesh and taken a letter of support from the people on promises like 300 units of free electricity, 10 lakh jobs, and unemployment allowance, according to the party. Earlier on Thursday, Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia had announced that the AAP will provide 300 units of free electricity to every household if voted to power in Uttar Pradesh.

    The party has also announced creating 10 lakh jobs every year and providing an allowance of Rs 5,000 per month to the unemployed in the state.

  • Nadda slams Kejriwal government for ‘obstructing’ Centre’s welfare schemes in Delhi

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Slamming the Kejriwal government for “obstructing” the Centre’s welfare programmes such as the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme in Delhi, BJP chief JP Nadda Monday urged people to vote for his party in the upcoming city municipal polls.

    Addressing the ‘Jhuggi Samman Yatra’ campaign at Anand Parbat here, he also accused the Aam Aadmi Party dispensation of spreading “false information”, blaming others for its problems and failing to address water supply issues in the slums of the city.

    He also accused the Kejriwal government of indulging in “false advertisements” of development in Delhi and spending taxpayers’ money on it.

    “Currently, 70 lakh people are deprived of the Ayushman Bharat health coverage benefit in Delhi. I had asked Kejriwal not to let his ego obstruct the scheme. You should go to each house and tell people that the Kejriwal government works against people,” he said.

    Ahead of the city municipal corporation polls due early next year, the Delhi BJP has launched the ‘Jhuggi Samman Yatra’ and plans to cover slum clusters in 31 Assembly segments in the city.

    Nadda said the BJP is committed to ensure that slum-dwellers were empowered to live with dignity.

    “There is PM Awas Yojna under which pucca houses are constructed. Don’t you want houses here? If you want houses then you must support the BJP,” he said.

    The BJP president cited various welfare schemes of Modi government such as the Ujjwala Yojna, Jan Dhan Yojna, e-Shram cards, PM Garib Kalyan Ann Yojna among others for poor and needy and asserted that the BJP was committed to serve them.

    He also lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership in tackling COVID-19 and saving the lives of people by ensuring the government and the society were together in the fight against the pandemic.

    “The biggest and fastest vaccination programme in the world was launched by the Modi government. The Kejriwal government was adamant to procure the vaccines itself but within 10 days took a U-turn and asked the Centre to provide it free doses,” he said.

    He also claimed the people of Delhi were not getting clean water and the illegal tankers of water mafia have doubled in the city.

    “Remember your vote is very important in democracy. Push the button for the BJP at the right time,” Nadda said.

    Led by Chief Minister Kejriwal, the AAP aims to upstage the BJP which has been at the helm of the civic bodies since 2017.

  • Goa: Kejriwal assures of forming corporation for taxi, auto operators when AAP voted to power

    By PTI

    PANAJI: Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said when his party is voted to power in Goa, it will form a corporation to address the needs of taxi and autorickshaw operators in the state.

    While interacting with the taxi unions at Vasco on the second day of his visit to the coastal state, Kejriwal said the AAP will take care of the taxi and auto-rickshaw operators.

    Taxis and auto-rickshaws are important components of the tourism industry, and operators should be provided necessary help to run their business, the AAP leader said.

    If a taxi or an auto-rickshaw driver meets with an accident, the state government will bear the medical expenses, when the AAP is voted to power, he said.

    Kejriwal further said that in order to weed out corruption, a faceless system will be set up in the state transport department so that all the work can be done online.

    Speaking about the High Court order that makes meters mandatory for taxis, the Delhi chief minister said the AAP will challenge the order before the Supreme Court considering the difficulties faced by taxi operators.

  • Gwalior’s ‘Kejriwal’ hopes Delhi CM can one day taste his chaat

    By Express News Service

    BHOPAL:  While Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is working hard to broaden the Aam Aadmi Party’s base in poll-bound Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Uttar Pradesh, his lookalike is tantalising the taste buds of foodies in Gwalior. 

    Meet Gaurav Gupta, the chaat seller. He is backer of Kejriwal’s bete noire, Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The 45-year-old has been running the Guptaji Ki Swadishth Chaat stall in the crowded Moti Mahal area for 10-12 years. While the Delhi CM is known for his resolve to make life better for the common man, his lookalike specialises in delighting them with fares like papadi chaat, palak papadi, samosas, meetha samosas and dahi vadas.

    The Class X dropout remembers fondly how his friends told him that he was a ‘duplicate’ of the Delhi CM. “In the last few months, social media has made me famous as a duplicate of Kejriwal. My stall is often called Kejriwal’s chaat stall. Even the number of daily customers has grown by 30-40% owing to my videos doing the rounds on social media,” said Gupta.

    Gupta, father of a daughter and a son, originally hails from UP’s Auraiya district. He has been in Gwalior for decades, after his father shifted here to sell jaljeera water in used liquor bottles. “My father has returned to UP, but we’ve made Gwalior our home,” he said.

    Hailing from a family which has long been a BJP supporter, Gupta says he backs PM Modi, but is also a fan of Kejriwal’s honest politics. “Arvind Kejriwal is one of the most honest politicians in the country and I’m happy that I’m his lookalike,” he said proudly.

    Maintaining that he doesn’t want to join politics, Gupta said after he became famous as Kejriwal’s lookalike, local AAP workers requested him to join their party. “I refused.  I’m happy with daily earnings of `700-`800. I want  the PM and the CM to visit my stall,” Gupta said.

  • Only AAP can form stable government in Punjab: Kejriwal

    Express News Service

    CHANDIGARH/NEW DELHI:  Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal gave a five-point agenda to his Punjab counterpart Charanjit Singh Channi. He stated that the AAP was the only alternative for a stable government in Punjab. Amid the crisis in Congress, Kejriwal landed here on a two-day visit to Punjab on Wednesday.

    Kejriwal asked Channi to fulfil all the pending promises made by his predecessor Capt Amarinder Singh.Kejriwal said: “The tainted ministers and officers recently appointed on key posts should immediately be removed and cases should be registered against them. People of Punjab are upset over Bargari sacrilege case. The mastermind of the cases, I don’t need to say who are they and till date they have not been arrested. All those accused can be arrested within 24 hours, if the government wants. Channi should read Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh’s report and he will thus find the names.”

    The AAP national convenor went on: “The unemployed should be provided jobs and till the employment is granted they should be given allowances. All farm loans should be waived off. The power purchase agreements made by the previous SAD-BJP government in the state should be cancelled.”

    Kejriwal added, “If Channi is serious, he should take at least these five decisions in his four-month stint. In my maiden 49-day stint as Delhi CM, I had made electricity cheaper, offered water for free and put the brakes on corruption.”

    Kejriwal added, “We have said again and again that we will give you (Punjab) such a chief ministerial face that all of you will be proud.” Kejriwal held a meeting with representatives of the industry here, assuring to set up a panel to resolve their issues if his party was voted to power in the state.

  • Eye on Uttarakhand polls, Kejriwal asks why people of hill state can’t get free electricity like Delhi

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: A day before his visit to poll-bound Uttarakhand, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday asked why the people of the hill state, which generates electricity, cannot get free power like in the national capital.

    The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor will visit Dehradun on Sunday.

    The party has decided to contest the assembly polls in the state due next year.

    “Uttarakhand generates electricity and also sells it to other states. Then, why is electricity so expensive for the people of Uttarakhand? Delhi does not generate its own electricity and buys it from other states and yet, electricity in Delhi is free.

    Shouldn’t the people of Uttarakhand get free electricity? See you tomorrow in Dehradun,” Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi.

  • Need 2.6 crores more doses, can vaccinate entire Delhi within 3 months: Kejriwal

    Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said that the Delhi administration needs three crore COVID-19 vaccine doses to administer all residents above the age of 18 within three months.

    “If we get adequate vaccine doses, we can complete vaccination within 3 months. There’re 1.5 crore people above 18 years of age in Delhi so we need 3 crore doses. Out of this, the Delhi government has got only 40 lakh doses so far. The CM said, currently, it is inoculating 1 lakh people in a day but the government is planning to increase it to 3 lakh people every day.

    “A lot of people from neighbouring cities – Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Sonipat, Gurgaon, Noida – are coming to Delhi to get their Covid shots because they’re liking the arrangements here. But we do not have enough vaccines. If we get doses in the right quantity, we can vaccinate the entire national capital in three months,” he said.

    He further said that Delhi is vaccinating people in the age group of 18-44 in about 100 schools for now. This number will be increased to 250-300.

    “If Delhi government is given 80-85 lakh doses of COVID-19 vaccine per month, then we can vaccinate 3 lakh people daily. As of now, we are have arranged vaccination drive in 100 schools and incoming days it will be increased to 250-300,” Kejriwal said.

    He also said that to scale up the process and efficiently vaccinate everybody, the Delhi government needs 80-85 lakh doses of COVID-19 vaccine per month, to complete vaccination within three months.

  • AAP will contest elections in six states: Kejriwal

    Kejriwal urged AAP members to strengthen the party at grassroots level.

  • Delhi govt has completed all preparations & is ready for vaccination: Arvind Kejriwal

     Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday chaired an important meeting regarding the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine. Kejriwal said that the Delhi government is fully prepared for COVID vaccination.

    “Delhi govt has completed all preparations & is ready for vaccination. There are around 51 lakh people including healthcare & frontline workers who would get the vaccine in the first phase. The process of identification of all such people is almost complete,” he further said.

    There are 51 lakh priority category persons for the COVID-19 vaccine in the city, he said. He also said that each priority category person will be given two doses, total 1.2 crore doses will be required in 1st phase of vaccination in Delhi, Kejriwal said

    He further said that Delhi would need 1.02 crore doses of vaccine for the first phase of vaccination since each person will get two doses. “Currently, we have the capacity to store 74 lakh doses which will be increased to 1.15 crore within one week,” he added.

  • CM Kejriwal and Gehlot demand central government to stop all flights coming from UK

     As the news broke out that a new mutation of coronavirus has emerged in the UK, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot urged the Centre to ban all flights from the country.

    “New mutation of coronavirus has emerged in the United Kingdom, which is a super-spreader. I urge the central government to ban all flights from the UK immediately,” Kejriwal tweeted.

    Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday also urged the Centre to ban all flights from the UK and other European countries after the emergence of a new strain of novel coronavirus.

    The new strain of novel coronavirus emerging in the UK is a matter of great concern. Government must take prompt action, prepare a contingency plan to contain the same and also immediately ban all flights from the UK and other European countries,” said Gehlot in a series of tweets.

    Rajasthan CM further said that our medical experts must be ready with a treatment plan in case of any outbreak of the new strain of the virus.

    “India needs both a preparedness plan as well as steps to restrict any movement from affected country or countries. Our medical experts must be ready with a treatment plan in case of any outbreak of the new strain of virus. Health protocols must be adhered to even more strictly,” he added.