News Analysis India

Tag: Manish Sisodia

  • Targeted killings in Kashmir: Sisodia slams BJP, AAP to hold protest at Jantar Mantar

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia on Sunday trained his gun on the BJP over the recent spurt in targeted killings in Kashmir and claimed this will be seen as the worst phase in the Valley’s history. The Delhi deputy chief minister claimed that there is an atmosphere of panic and terror in Kashmir.

    The Kashmir Valley has seen eight targeted killings by terror groups especially Lashkar-e-Taiba whose victims included non-Muslims, security personnel, an artist and local civilians.

    Scores of Kashmiri Pandits, who were employed under a prime minister’s package in 2012, have been staging protests threatening mass exodus since the killing of Rahul Bhat, who was shot dead by terrorists on May 12 in the Chadoora area of Budgam district in central Kashmir.

    The Aam Aadmi Party will hold a protest rally at Jantar Mantar in Delhi over the issue on Sunday. In a tweet in Hindi, Sisodia said, “This period will be counted as the worst phase in the history of Kashmir. The BJP has completely failed to stop targeted killings and there is an atmosphere of panic and terror in Kashmir.”

    “Today’s demonstration at Jantar Mantar under the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal will demand peace in Kashmir and will be a protest against these killings,” the Delhi deputy chief minister said.

    Two persons — a bank employee and a brick kiln labourer — were killed in Kashmir on June 2 while another labourer was injured in two separate incidents.

    A woman teacher from the Samba district of the Jammu region was shot dead by terrorists at a school in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district on May 31.

    On May 18, terrorists had entered a wine shop at Baramulla in North Kashmir and threw a grenade, killing one person from the Jammu region and injuring three others.

    Policeman Saifullah Qadri was shot dead outside his residence in Srinagar on May 24 while TV artiste Amreen Bhat was gunned down in Budgam two days later.

    Various political parties have attacked the BJP over the Kashmir situation and sought answers from the Union Territory administration over the spurt in targeted killings.

  • BJP government in Gujarat ashamed of state’s schools: AAP leader Manish Sisodia

    Manish Sisodia asked why the BJP could not improve the standards of schools in 27 years in Gujarat while the AAP had done it in five years.

  • Manish Sisodia will soon be arrested in ‘fake’ case: Delhi CM Kejriwal 

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday alleged that his deputy Manish Sisodia will soon be arrested in a “fake” case like Health Minister Satyendar Jain.

    Jain, who holds health, power and home portfolios, was on Monday arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a case related to money laundering.

    ALSO READ | Case against Satyender Jain fake, politically motivated: Kejriwal 

    “I had learnt from reliable sources a few months back that Satyendar Jain was going to be arrested in a fake case and now I have learnt from the same sources that Manish Sisodia is going to be arrested in the next few days in another fake case,” Kejriwal said at a media briefing.

    Calling Sisodia the “father of education movement in Delhi” and the best education minister of independent India, the chief minister said he has worked to improve the future of children studying in government schools.

    “Not only in Delhi, but he gave hope to children across the country that they can get good education in government schools. I want to ask the parents of children studying in government schools, ‘Is he corrupt?’,” he said.

    Accusing the Centre of trying to stop the good work being done in education and health sectors in the national capital under Sisodia and Jain, Kejriwal said their arrests is a loss to the country.

    “I urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi to arrest all the AAP MLAs in one go. Arresting them one by one puts a brake on the good work being done. Arrest them together so that after the arrest (when they are released), we can carry on the good work,” he said.

  • Eye on 2022 polls, AAP plans a Tiranga Yatra in Punjab on December 2 

    Express News Service

    CHANDIGARH:  With assembly elections in Punjab a couple of months away, Aam Aadmi Party is likely to take out a Tiranga Yatra in Pathankot on December 2. Earlier, the party had conducted a similar campaign in the poll-bound Uttar Pradesh. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will be leading the yatra. Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia will also take part in it.

    The yatra is seen as an attempt to assuage the feelings of the Hindu community of Punjab. Hindu-dominated Pathankot has traditionally been a stronghold of BJP.

    Meanwhile, AAP Punjab co-in-charge and MLA from Delhi, Raghav Chadha, has challenged Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi to provide Scheduled Caste (SC) families with 5-5 Marla plots and to immediately provide financial assistance of Rs 1 crore to all employees, especially who belong to SC, who lost their lives while discharging their duties during the covid pandemic.

    Chadha said that if Channi did not do so, then after winning the 2022 elections in Punjab, Kejriwal would give 5-5 plots to SC families. All those martyred while doing their jobs would be given financial aid of `1 crore.

    Supporting the demands of the employees working under the National Health Mission (NHM), AAP senior leader and Leader of Opposition, Harpal Singh Cheema said that upon the formation of AAP government in Punjab after the assembly elections, the NHM employees would be regularised. 

    Cheema along with the party’s Youth Wing co-president, Anmol Gagan Mann, visited the state-level dharna rally of the NHM employees in Kharar and met the protesters.

    Community health officers, doctors, nurses, clerical and other contractual staff under the NHM participated in the rally. 

  • Uttarakhand elections: AAP CM candidate Ajay Kothiyal to contest from Gangotri seat

    By Express News Service

    DEHRADUN: AAP Chief Minister candidate Col (Retd) Ajay Kothiyal would contest state assembly elections due next year from Gangotri state assembly constituency, announced Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday. 

    Sisodia, who was on a two-day visit in Uttarakhand, said: “It is such an auspicious moment that I announce this. In the past 20 years, the people of Uttarakhand have been cheated by two parties – the Indian National Congress and the BJP. We promise that people will never have to regret. The people of Delhi are the live example of what good work we have done.”

    The party, which has decided to contest on all 70 state assembly constituencies, has already released a list of 10 candidates earlier this month. Sisodia met the people from business community in Dehradun on Tuesday following his visit to Uttarkashi district, home of Gangotri shrine on Wednesday. 

    Sisodia promised all round development of Uttarakhand if AAP is voted to power. “The people in Uttarakhand hills have been suffering 20 years of corruption and misrule by the BJP and the Congress. Youth has no job, pregnant women have no medical facilities and people are deprived of their rights. We promise to change this with support of the people of Uttarakhand,” added Sisodia.

    Interestingly, trends reveal that the party whose candidate has won the Gangotri seat has been able to form the government in the hill state. However, the state has been under de facto two-party system with the Congress and the BJP coming to power alternately. None of the two parties have been able to form consecutive governments following the assembly elections. 

    A political analyst said: “Ganga is not a river but a focal point of faith of entire Indo-Gangetic plains and Uttarakhand hills as well. Gangotri is the origin of the river Ganga. To field Col Kothiyal from that constituency is a strategically well thought decision to counter the BJP.”

  • Our target is to raise Delhi’s per capita income to Singapore’s level by 2047: Sisodia

    Sisodia made the remarks during a virtual meeting headed by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday evening.

  • 100-crore vaccine doses milestone could have been achieved 6 months ago: Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Delhi’s deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Friday took a swipe at the Centre over the celebrations on the administration of 100 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses, saying India’s medical team would have had achieved the target six months ago if the Union government had started arranging the vaccines for people in time.

    India achieved a major milestone in its vaccination programme against COVID-19 as the cumulative vaccine doses administered surpassed the 100-crore mark on Thursday, resulting in celebratory events in several parts of the country.

    The country crossed the landmark in a little over nine months since a nationwide vaccination drive was launched on January 16.

    “While taking pride in the administration of 100 crore vaccines, we should also remember that our medical team would have had achieved the target of administering 100 crore vaccines six months ago if the central government had started arranging the vaccine in time and had not fallen in greed of getting accolades for sending the vaccines abroad,” Sisodia said in a tweet in Hindi.

    Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the crossing of the 100-crore vaccine doses milestone and said that India’s success in achieving the target in nine months has given a befitting reply to those who questioned its capabilities.

    This highlights a “new India” which can set difficult targets and achieve them, the prime minister said in his address to the nation.

  • People of Gandhinagar want change, AAP has emerged as strong alternative: Delhi dy CM Manish Sisodia

    By PTI

    AHMEDABAD: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia on Wednesday claimed that the people of Gandhinagar city, the capital of Gujarat, want change, and that his party has emerged as a strong alternative to the ruling BJP and opposition Congress.

    He was in Gandhinagar to take part in a roadshow ahead of the October 3 elections to the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation (GMC).

    Addressing a press conference, Sisodia alleged that even as the voters of the city had given a chance to the Congress in the past, the party betrayed the people’s mandate and helped the BJP to capture the municipal body.

    “Now, the people of Gandhinagar want change. It’s not that BJP has been winning since the beginning here. In the past, people of Gandhinagar had given a chance to Congress also as people were not happy with the BJP rule. But since Congress was the only option, people voted for that party to bring in a change,” said the deputy chief minister of Delhi.

    “But unfortunately, Congress always remained weak. The party betrayed the people’s mandate and ultimately helped BJP to capture power. But now, AAP has emerged as a strong alternative to both Congress and BJP. I am fully confident that we will sweep this polls,” Sisodia added.

    He was referring to the 2016 GMC election, when both Congress and BJP won 16 seats each out of the total 32. Both the parties had equal chances of forming the board through a draw of lots. However, at the last moment, Congress corporator Pravin Patel switched sides and helped the BJP come to power at the civic body.

    “Recently, 27 AAP councillors won in Surat. The way they are working, people are now realising what a corporator can do. People just want to get their work done. They don’t want any false promises. People now have a choice in the form of AAP. I firmly believe that BJP never did anything for the state capital and its people,” Sisodia claimed.

    He added that instead of seeking votes on religious or caste lines, AAP will seek votes only on the basis of the party’s performance. Polls to the Gandhinagar civic body are being held almost six months after they were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

    As per the schedule, polling for the GMC with 44 seats in 11 wards will be held between 7 am and 6 pm on Sunday. The counting of votes and declaration of result will be done on October 5.

  • 2022 UP polls: AAP promises 300 units Of free electricity, 24/7 power supply

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: The Aam Admi Party (AAP) on Thursday promised free electricity for farmers, waiver of pending electricity bills and 24×7 power supply, and no charge for the first 300 units of electricity in Uttar Pradesh if voted to power in the assembly elections early next year.

    Addressing the media persons, AAP leader and Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia compared the power consumption cost in the national capital with that of neighbouring Uttar Pradesh.

    It may be recalled that APP has taken lead in announcing its first tentative 100 candidates for the election to the 403-member Assembly.

    Sisodia urged the people of Uttar Pradesh to vote for the AAP in the assembly elections to avail of power subsidy on the lines of Delhi.

    He claimed that in Uttar Pradesh the electricity bill for the first 300 units used to stand at Rs 1,900 at present which would be zero if AAP would be voted to power in the state.

    ALSO READ | 2022 UP polls: Congress working to firm up the manifesto, to create 30,000 poll-ready party workers

    Sisodia also announced that each household of Uttar Pradesh would get 300 units of electricity free-of-cost, while the farmers won’t have to pay anything for their power consumption.

    “The days of costly electricity will be over by the power of the voters of Uttar Pradesh,” Sisodia said, adding, “within 24 hours of forming the government in the state, the AAP would provide 300 units of free electricity to all the domestic consumers of the state.”

    Sisodia also promised that the AAP government would waive off pending electricity bills to offer relief to the consumers. “Not only will we provide subsidized electricity and waive off the pending bills, but we will ensure Uttar Pradesh of the 21st Century gets round-the-clock power supply.”

    Uttar Pradesh has the means to generate electricity, unlike Delhi, which is why the state can supply a 24×7 power supply, the AAP leader said.

  • Uttar Pradesh polls 2022: AAP promises 300 units of electricity free, 24X7 supply

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday promised that if it is voted to power in Uttar Pradesh, its government will provide 300 units of electricity free of cost to all domestic consumers, waive outstanding bills of 38 lakh families and ensure 24-hour power supply.

    Addressing a press conference here, AAP leader and Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia also announced providing free electricity to farmers. The AAP has made similar promises in Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa where assembly polls are due in early next year.

    The Arvind Kejriwal-led party, which has decided to contest all 403 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, alleged that electricity tariff is so expensive in Uttar Pradesh that it is becoming very difficult for people to pay the bill.

    At the same time, Sisodia alleged, the government tells people to either pay the electricity bill or be tagged as criminals.

    ALSO READ| Farm loan waiver, sops to be on Congress’ Uttar Pradesh manifesto

    Claiming that there are hundreds of instances in Uttar Pradesh wherein common people have committed suicide after receiving inflated electricity bills, Sisodia said a farmer in Aligarh, named Ramji Lal, killed himself over non-payment of electricity bill while in Etah, a 17-year-old girl committed suicide just because the electricity department had sent a wrong bill to her father who was declared a criminal for not paying it.

    “There are 38 lakh families in Uttar Pradesh who have been sent inflated electricity bills and the government is considering them as criminals. I want to tell these people that you support the Aam Aadmi Party and ensure that our party forms the government after the assembly elections. Tear the bills as soon as the government is formed. Everyone’s outstanding bill will be waived. This is Arvind Kejriwal’s guarantee,” Sisodia said.

    He said that today electricity is not a luxury but a basic necessity and it is the responsibility of every government to make it available to every citizen. The party promised to provide 300 units of electricity free of cost to all domestic consumers per billing cycle, waive outstanding bills of 38 lakh families and ensure 24-hour power supply.

    AAP Rajya Sabha member and in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Sanjay Singh told the press conference that Kejriwal does what he says. Whatever announcements have been made today, including providing 300 units of free electricity, are historic, Singh said.

    Asked about the party’s chief ministerial candidate, Sisodia said when the time comes, the party will take a decision on it. The party is contesting the elections under the leadership of Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal, he added.