The Indian Panorama

Tag: Aam Aadmi Party – AAP @AamAadmiParty

  • KEJRIWAL ORDERS FIR AGAINST RIL, MOILY, DEORA

    KEJRIWAL ORDERS FIR AGAINST RIL, MOILY, DEORA

    NEW DELHI (TIP):
    Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal ordered registration of an FIR against Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) chairman Mukesh Ambani, Petroleum Minister Veerappa Moily, former minister Murli Deora and former director general of Hydrocarbons VK Sibal. The move drew a sharp response from the government and the Congress. The decision to order the probe by the Anti- Corruption Bureau (ACB) was made on a complaint by former Cabinet Secretary TSR Subramaniam, former Navy Chief Admiral RH Tahiliani, former Secretary to the Central Government EAS Sarma and Supreme Court lawyer Kamini Jaiswal.

    Demanding that the Centre put on hold the decision to hike gas prices from April 1, Kejriwal told a press conference that the ACB of his government had been asked to file a criminal case under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Kejriwal alleged collusion between the RIL and some Central ministers. “Gas price will be doubled from April 1. In case the price hike is allowed, it will make the life of common man miserable since it will have a cascading effect on transport, domestic gas and even electricity prices,” he said at a press conference. Reading out the complaint, the CM said the impact of the hike in gas price would cost the country a minimum of Rs 54,500 crore every year, and allow the RIL to make a profit of Rs 1.2 lakh crore.

    “The government took no action against the RIL for its deliberate drop in production and ignored the CAG report and the then Solicitor General’s opinion (in May 2012) and on the contrary accepted the RIL demand for doubling the gas prices from April 1 this year. This is a clear case of causing unimaginable loss to the government exchequer,” said the complaint. Clarifying on the powers of the ACB, he said the existing laws and rules empowered it to take up the probe into complaints of corruption about alleged offences that took place within its territorial jurisdiction.

    A government press note later stated since most of the alleged offences, including the most important decision to finalise the exorbitant hike in the prices of gas, had been committed in Delhi, the investigation had been referred to the ACB. Attacking Kejriwal Petroleum Minister Veerappa Moily said, “I think, I should sympathise with his ignorance. He should know how the government functions, how these things are done,” he said.

    The Congress cautioned against the probe “inspired by political vendetta”. Terming Kejriwal action against it as shocking, Reliance Industries today said the complaints that were used to base the action are baseless and devoid of merit or substance. “The direction of the Delhi Government to order the registration of an FIR in relation to the decision of Union Cabinet to revise the price of gas is indeed shocking,” the company said in a statement.

  • Kejriwal threatens to quit

    Kejriwal threatens to quit

    NEW DELHI (TIP):
    After witnessing disruptions on the first day of the special assembly session, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said he will resign if the BJP and the Congress stalls the tabling and the passage of the Lokpal bill in the house. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is desperate to pass the bill, which aims to check corruption in high places, during the four-day session which started on Feb 13. Delhi Congress MLA Haroon Yusuf said that the Congress will not support the Lokpal Bill because it’s unconstitutional.

    To make matters worse, Lt Gov Jung in a letter to Speaker MS Dhir said that the bill can’t be table in the assembly as it has not been cleared by him. Unable to speak in the house, Kejriwal — who had wanted to distribute copies of the Jan Lokpal bill to all legislators — told the media later that he would resign if the bill wasn’t passed Friday in the assembly. “We will try to introduce the bill. If it gets beaten and defeated by the Congress and BJP, I will resign.”

    But this is impossible with the 31-member BJP, the biggest group in the assembly, the eight-member Congress, the lone Janata Dal-United legislator and an independent virtually banding together.

  • RTI hero Arvind Kejriwal won’t share information

    RTI hero Arvind Kejriwal won’t share information

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Arvind Kejriwal may have been a champion of the Right to Information Act but his government seems bent on stonewalling requests for information on several key decisions taken by it.

    It’s been more than a month since Dev Ashish Bhattacharya of Noida filed two applications under the transparency law. These have made the rounds of 22 departments — most of them with no connection to the subject matter — but he is yet to get the answers he seeks.

    In his first application, filed January 2, Bhattacharya sought the file notings of two key decisions taken by Kejriwal after becoming CM — an annual 20,000 litres of free water to each household and a 50% reduction in power tariff through subsidy.

    The second, filed January 4, pertains to the cost incurred by the government on the swearing-in ceremony at Ramlila Maidan and on the sprucing up of the Bhagwan Das Road residence allocated to the CM (which he later declined to accept). Most of the departments have responded saying the information sought does not fall within their jurisdiction.

    “The information I asked for was straight and simple, and the chief secretary’s office should have known the answers. But instead of giving the information, my applications were forwarded to a number of irrelevant departments,” Bhattacharya said. The first application was forwarded to the fire service, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board.

    The second application was also forwarded to same set of departments. Calling this a common practice by governments to harass information seekers, former central information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi said, “It is ridiculous that the chief secretary’s office is not aware of file notings related to decisions taken by the cabinet.”

    Even an official at Kejriwal’s office said, “It was a simple RTI query that should have been answered.” Kejriwal started his civil society career with Parivartan, a Delhi-based NGO that campaigned for transparency and accountability using RTI. In 2006, he won the Magsaysay award for his work in creating awareness about RTI.

  • Sibal’s son moves SC against Kejriwal

    Sibal’s son moves SC against Kejriwal

    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday will hear a petition by telecom minister Kapil Sibal’s son challenging a Delhi High Court order asking the trial court to consider applications by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and advocate Prashant Bhushan seeking discharge from a defamation case.

    Sibal’s advocate son Amit had filed the defamation suit against Kejriwal and Bhushan and the trial court had issued process against them in July last year. Amit had moved against Kejriwal and Bhushan for alleging that he had taken advantage of his father’s position to represent telecom companies.

    After the trial court issued process and summoned them for appearance, Kejriwal and Bhushan moved the HC seeking discharge from the case. The HC on January 16 refused to entertain their request, but permitted them to move a similar plea before the trial court. The HC had also said that if they moved an application for exemption from personal appearance, the trial court would grant it.

    Amit Sibal challenged this order in the Supreme Court alleging that it was beyond the provisions of law. In his appeal, he said no provision of law permitted discharge from a defamation suit and the HC erred in permitting Kejriwal and Bhushan to move it before the trial court, with an advice to the trial court to consider it.

  • Arvind Kejriwal targets top leaders in ‘India’s most corrupt’ list

    Arvind Kejriwal targets top leaders in ‘India’s most corrupt’ list

    NEW DELHI (TIP): A day after he announced that his new Aam Aadmi Party will contest nearly 350 of the Lok Sabha’s 543 seats, Arvind Kejriwal listed his choice for “India’s Most Corrupt” and vowed to put up strong candidates against them.

    Union ministers like Kapil Sibal, Kamal Nath and Farooq Abdullah were among his nominees; so was Nitin Gadkari, BS Yeddyurappa and Anant Kumar of the BJP and Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi who is helming his party’s campaign for the national election due by May. “Don’t let a single corrupt politician enter Parliament,” he told party workers.

    Think of that election as a revolution to cleanse parliament, Mr Kejriwal urged party workers in Delhi. He has declared that his party will prioritize defeating about 160 candidates who have criminal records. Positioning his party as the putative antidote to a deeply-corrupt system has served the former tax inspector well.

    A month ago, he took over as the chief minister of Delhi after the Aam Aadmi Party or AAP emerged as a breakout hit in the first election it contested. After the hyper-change it escorted, national interest in the AAP has spiked. Opinion polls project about 12 seats for the AAP, but its impact is visible in the national campaign, with the two major parties, the Congress and the opposition BJP, aping its anti-elite, anti-corruption language.

  • CONGRESS MLA DISRUPTS KEJRIWAL CONFERENCE, CALLS HIM A CHEAT

    CONGRESS MLA DISRUPTS KEJRIWAL CONFERENCE, CALLS HIM A CHEAT

    NEW DELHI: A Congress MLA Thursday today disrupted Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s press conference saying that the Aam Aadmi Party government were biased against Muslims and called him a cheat.

    Demanding an SIT probe into the Batla House encounter, Asif Mohammad Khan lashed out at Arvind Kejriwal saying why was the Delhi government not demanding a probe in the controversial Batla House encounter. NDTV quoted the MLA saying: ‘Today they refused to take any action on the Batla House encounter.

    Why make promises when you will not take any action? In your (AAP’s) manifesto – the Batla House encounter was a point.’ The Congress MLA accused Kejriwal of not being concerned about Muslims and said that the AAP backtracked on their promise on a judicial probe into the Batla House encounters.

    “He (Kejriwal) had promised the people of Okhla that he will probe the Batla House encounter case, and had even distributed handbills saying the same,” said Khan, adding that Kejriwal is now backtracking from his promise. Arvind Kejriwal held a press conference in the capital to mark a month’s completion by his government in Delhi.

  • Shinde gets tough, denies Kejriwal his cop of choice

    Shinde gets tough, denies Kejriwal his cop of choice

    NEW DELHI (TIP): AAP-Centre tensions seem to be escalating with the home ministry retracting its decision to appoint senior IPS officer Praveer Ranjan as chief of the Delhi government’s anti-corruption bureau, overturning a specific request by the CM.

    Ranjan’s appointment had been cleared on the request of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and the move to revisit the decision comes in the wake of a vituperative confrontation between AAP and the Centre over the CM’s demand for the suspension of four police officials.


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    The Centre’s relations with the AAP government, never too robust to begin with, have taken a beating after Kejriwal repeatedly targeted home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, even leveling allegations of corruption against the senior Congress leader. Responding to Kejriwal’s attacks, Shinde described Kejriwal as a “mad chief minister” at a function in Maharashtra. According to sources, the Centre’s decision on Ranjan also comes in the wake of the appointment of about a dozen other Delhi Police officers to the ACB running into rough weather.

    However, the home ministry’s latest move to refuse Kejriwal’s request for a new ACB chief could have other ramifications as it challenges conventions governing relations between states and centre, and the right of state chief ministers to seek appointment of preferred officers. After the street dharna led by Kejriwal against Delhi police and the Centre, AAP government is believed to be preparing to direct the ACB to begin a probe against former chief minister and senior Congress leader Shiela Dikshit and her cabinet colleagues in cases relating to the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

    The Centre may well be keeping a close watch on these developments ahead of the Lok Sabha poll. According to available indications, almost a dozen other Delhi police officers that Kejriwal sought for ACB too may not be appointed. Delhi police and other sources suggest that the police may have told Delhi lieutenant governor Naseeb Jung that almost none of them want to come to ACB. The stance of the home ministry on the ACB chief’s appointment is read as a clear sign that Congress doesn’t intend to de-escalate its political tensions with AAP. Sources said on Thursday, the home ministry asked Jung to immediately relieve Ranjan from the Delhi police, where he is presently heading the economic offences wing, and to send him to Pondicherry.

    The home ministry’s refusal to appoint Ranjan is the latest twist in AAP government’s efforts to beef up its anticorruption wing. On January 17, during the much publicised meeting between Kejriwal and home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, when Delhi CM demanded control over the city police, the two had also discussed the appointment of Ranjan. When Kejriwal requested the posting of Ranjan, given his good reputation, as the chief of ACB, the home minister is believed to have said it was not a problem, and that whenever any chief minister asks for an officer of his preference the request is acceded to. Home secretary Anil Goswami, who was also present, assured that appropriate orders would be issued. But within a few hours the scenario changed.

    Kejriwal took to the streets against the home ministry’s refusal to take action against police officials whom Delhi government held responsible for various lapses in the city. The CM slept by the Rail Bhavan on the street, and ended it after a deal was struck. According to reports, the Congress party was not pleased with the deal offered to Kejriwal to end his agitation. In the run up to his latest street agitation, Kejriwal also gave several interviews where he revealed Delhi government’s immediate plans, that of investigating the alleged irregularities during Commonwealth Games and other major scandals of last Congress government.

    Sources said the Kejriwal government has already examining files from the PWD and other departments, of contracts in which several high profile officials and ministers including Dikshit were indicted by the CAG, Central Vigilance Commission and the Shunglu Commission. Kejriwal had publically announced that he would be ordering criminal investigations against Dikshit and her ministers in the alleged scandals.

  • KEJRIWAL HOLDS ‘JANATA DARBAR’ AT DELHI SECRETARIAT

    KEJRIWAL HOLDS ‘JANATA DARBAR’ AT DELHI SECRETARIAT

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal along with his entire cabinet held a ‘janata darbar’ at the the Delhi Secretariat on January 11 to hear the complaints of the people and tried to redress them immediately. This is being termed as Kejriwal’s attempt at what many are terming ‘street governance’. According to TV reports, hundreds turned up at the meet as Delhi’s newest CM lend an ear to the complaints of the aam admi.

    The nature of complaints varied at the gathering, with some members of the civil society raising their voice against loss of jobs. As the crowd swelled, many tried to jostle their way in, in order to have a word with Delhi’s CM. The placards on display at the meeting hinted at the immediate problems that Kejriwal is faced with. On Friday, the chief minister had announced that the entire cabinet will sit in front of the Delhi Secretariat on Saturdays to receive grievances from people and efforts will be made to solve them immediately. On weekdays, one minister will receive grievances from the public. “Public grievance is another major issue. It is a major issue for any government. It is the duty of every government to resolve those grievances. Public grievance is just a symptom, the disease lies somewhere else,” said Kejriwal.

    Grievances will be segregated into five categories depending upon their urgencies. “The urgent cases related to school admission or admission to a hospital will be resolved on the spot. In the next category, ministers will mention the time frame to resolve the grievance. “Those related to policy matters will require time. They will be forwarded to the respective ministers for their considerations, he said. The next category will be for taking suggestions from the public. A team will be formed to look into them and regularly put up best of the suggestions to the chief minister. Another is miscellaneous category and the last is for those which are not related to the government, he added. Kejriwal had said that unlike previous governments, he will not go by the compliance reports filed by the officials but will ensure that the complainant is absolutely satisfied.

  • AAP tremors all over India Party plans expansion beyond Delhi

    AAP tremors all over India Party plans expansion beyond Delhi

    NEW DELHI (TIP): While the stunning debut of the Aam Aadmi Party cannot be disputed, the question that arises is whether AAP is riding high on an antiincumbency wave in Delhi or is it as popular across rest of India. In 1977, there was no 24×7 live television, no private radio, the circulation of newspapers was about onetenth of what it is now and those too were heavily censored by Indira Gandhi. Most of the opposition was in jail and not a single person seemed to be in the booth for the Janata Party.

    Surprisingly though, the civic governance was still functional during the emergency, the railways remained unaffected and all babus seemed to do their work. And then, on polling day, the so-called illiterate, poor janta came out of their homes silently and booted out Indira Gandhi from her own seat. In 2014, TV channels are teeming, the circulation of newspapers has gone up 10 times, there is no censorship and literacy levels are also high, and to top it all, there is rampant misgovernance all around. So imagine the kind of anger that has accumulated with this kind of information available.

    Thus, all factors that can pump up the antiincumbent feeling among the voters are ten times more now. One had Jai Prakash Narayan in 1977, Ram Manohar Lohia in 1967 and Anna Hazare in the last couple of years. There is no denying that in a way Arvind Kejriwal is a by-product of the Anna movement and has gained much goodwill for the same. Between 1977 and now, Congress’ opposition in Delhi has changed to BJP and AAP. However, in the rest of the country, nothing has changed. When the Janta Party disintegrated, regional forces evolved into independent parties.

    In 1999, they got together as NDA and repeated what happened in 1977. So the question that now arises is what is this vacuum that AAP is filling? For years, the Congress saturated the spot of the ‘grand old party’ and the default opposition parties became BJP and its allies. If one grants the average slot of 30 percent seats to UPA and NDA each, then which is this remaining 40 percent non-UPA, non-NDA third/fourth/new front? This phenomenon of the rise of AAP that we are now looking at is actually the institutionalisation of this third front. And for the first time, this third front is not based on caste or regional factors. However, it would be oversimplifying AAP’s rise by saying that it is simply eating into the Congress’ or the BJP’s votes.

    For as far as voters are concerned, there is genuine support for AAP. For the first time, we are looking at the middle class vote bank that is not necessarily urban. There is a similar consciousness among middle class voters in rural and semiurban settings. This middle class as a vote bank is evolving as a caste-less, dynasty-less and micro-issue-less phenomenon. The polls were conducted in four states and the sentiment as far as the issues and AAP are concerned remained the same more or less.

    All cities today are becoming cosmopolitan in nature and this new vote bank of middle class is a game changer. Wherever the UPA or NDA failed earlier, the voters opted for regional, dynastic political forces. However, now, they wish to opt for AAP especially at the Lok Sabha level. So while inflation proves expensive for Sheila and Gehlot, it did not affect Raman Singh or Chauhan. Hence, this vacuum at the parliamentary level might be filled by AAP. Now the question that arises is who is getting hurt by this. In Delhi, the Congress’ rout was imminent and would have happened even if AAP was not present.

    Thus, on the face of it, it looks like BJP would get hurt more. However, if one takes a look at the fine print, one will realise that Congress will take the biggest hit. Say AAP pulls down the BJP by about 50 seats, even then, the latter will remain the single largest party. But if it does the same to Congress, its meltdown will be complete and disastrous.

    The loss of Congress is very evident in the fact that AAP breached into Muslim and Dalit votes in Delhi. If this continues in the rest of India, it will be disastrous for Congress. So while the BJP needs to get worries, what the Congress needs to do is panic.

  • Arvind Kejriwal sworn as Delhi’s Chief Minister

    Arvind Kejriwal sworn as Delhi’s Chief Minister

    AP Singh:
    DELHI (TIP): Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal was sworn in as the 7th Chief Minister of Delhi at a simple ceremony at Ram Lila Maidan here on December 28. At 45, he is the youngest ever Chief Minister of Delhi. The oath of office was administered by Najeeb Jang, the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi. Six ministers in Kejriwal’s cabinet also took oath of office. They are Manish Sisodia, Rakhi Birla, Saurabh Bhardwaj, Satyendra Jain, Girish Soni, and Somnath Bharti. The oath taking ceremony in the iconic sprawling Ram Lila Maidan, in keeping with the wishes of Arvind Kejriwal, was kept a simple affair.

    In a revolutionary departure from the past practice, there were no VVIP enclosures. However, it turned out to be the most largely attended oath taking ceremony where hundreds of thousands of stake holders in the governance of Delhi milled around to witness the historic event. Each present felt he was a part of the people’s government. Such has been the magic of Arvind Kejriwal’s style of working and treating people. Kejriwal has repeatedly said it is the people who are the masters. Government is there only to serve them. Earlier, Kejriwal and his colleagues nominated to cabinet boarded Metro from the Kaushambi metro station at 10.30 AM and proceed for the swearing in ceremony at the Ramlila Maidan.


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    AAP supporters gather at Ramlila Maidan.

    They arrived at Ram Lila Maidan a little before 12, accompanied by a large number of party workers who shouted slogans, like Kejriwal Zindabad. The enthusiasm of the aam aadmi was seen to be believed. They were celebrating the historic event of the passage of power in to their own hands. Many in the crowds were visibly moved and had tears in their eyes. Kejriwal heads a minority government, with a total of 28 legislators in a house of 70.

  • ARVIND KEJRIWAL: MEET THE NEW CHIEF MINISTER OF DELHI

    ARVIND KEJRIWAL: MEET THE NEW CHIEF MINISTER OF DELHI

    Arvind Kejriwal (born 16 August 1968) is an Indian politician and the Chief Minister-designate of Delhi. Born in Haryana, Kejriwal is a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, where he studied Mechanical Engineering. He worked for the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) as a Joint Commissioner in the Income Tax Department. He is well-known for his role in drafting a proposed Jan Lokpal Bill and his efforts to bring and implement the Right to Information (RTI) act at grassroots level. Kejriwal won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership in 2006 for his contribution to the enactment of the Right to Information Act and for his efforts to empower the poorest citizens of India. In 2006, after resigning from the IRS, he donated his Magsaysay award money as a corpus fund to found an NGO, Public Cause Research Foundation. In 2012, he launched the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and defeated Sheila Dixit in the 2013 Delhi Legislative Assembly election by a margin of 25,864 votes.

    Early life
    Kejriwal was born in the village of Siwani, Haryana, on 16 August 1968 to Gobind Ram Kejriwal and Gita Devi, a well-educated and well-off couple. He has a younger sister and brother. His father was an electrical engineer who graduated from the Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, and whose work led to many changes in the family’s residence. Kejriwal spent most of his childhood in north Indian towns such as Sonepat, Ghaziabad and Hisar. He was educated at Campus School in Hisar. Kejriwal studied mechanical engineering at Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur and then from 1989 he worked for Tata Steel. He left that job in 1992, having previously taken leave of absence in order to study for the Civil Services Examination, and spent some time in Kolkata, at the Ramakrishna Mission in North-East India and at Nehru Yuva Kendra.


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    Kejriwal joined the Indian Revenue Service in 1995 after qualifying through the Civil Services Examination. In 2000, he was granted two years’ paid leave to pursue higher education on condition that upon resuming his work he would not resign from the Service for at least three years. Failure to abide by that condition would require him to repay the salary given during the leave period. He rejoined in 2003 and worked for 18 months before taking unpaid leave for 18 months. In February 2006, he resigned from his position as a Joint Commissioner of Income Tax in New Delhi. The Government of India claimed that Kejriwal had violated his original agreement by not working for three years.

    Kejriwal said that his 18 months of work and 18 months of unpaid absence amounted to the stipulated three year period during which he could not resign and that this was an attempt to malign him due to his involvement with Team Anna, a strand of the Indian anti-corruption movement. Eventually, in 2011, the matter was resolved when he paid his way out of the Service with the help of loans from friends. Kejriwal is married to Sunita, who is also an IRS officer and his batchmate from National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie and the National Academy of Direct Taxes in Nagpur. The couple have a daughter and a son. Kejriwal is a vegetarian. He has been practicing Vipassana for many years.

    Parivartan
    Kejriwal believes “Change begins with small things”. In December 1999, while still in service with the Income Tax Department, he helped found a movement named Parivartan (which means “change”), focused on assisting citizens in navigating income tax, electricity and food ration matters in parts of Delhi. The Parivartan organisation exposed a fake ration card scam in 2008 but, according to a founder member, did not have a great impact generally and was largely moribund by 2012.

    Right to Information
    Together with Manish Sisodia and Abhinandan Sekhri, Kejriwal established the Public Cause Research Foundation in December 2006, donating the prize money he had received from the Ramon Magsaysay Award as a seed fund.[9] This new body paid the employees of Parivartan.[8] Kejriwal has used the Right to Information Act in corruption cases in many government departments including the Income Tax Department, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the Public Distribution System and the Delhi Electricity Board.

    Jan Lokpal Bill
    Kejriwal was the civil society representative member of the committee constituted by the Government of India to draft a Jan Lokpal bill, following a campaign for introduction of such legislation that featured Anna Hazare. He had been arrested for his support of Hazare.

    Political career
    Kejriwal established the AAP in November 2012. The party name reflects the phrase Aam Aadmi, or “common man”, whose interests Kejriwal proposed to represent. He became one of the five most mentioned Indian politician on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter in the run-up to the Delhi legislative assembly elections of December 2013. Those elections were the first contested by the AAP and in them Kejriwal defeated the incumbent Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, in her Assembly constituency of New Delhi. The party as a whole won 28 of the 70 available Assembly seats. Following the elections, he is likely to become the youngest Chief Minister of Delhi. The AAP has announced its intention to form a minority government in the hung Assembly, with what Dikshit describes as “not unconditional” support from Indian National Congress.

  • AAP’S FOREIGN FUNDING UNDER SCANNER; MHA TO INSPECT PARTY’S ACCOUNTS

    AAP’S FOREIGN FUNDING UNDER SCANNER; MHA TO INSPECT PARTY’S ACCOUNTS

    NEW DELHI (TIP): The Home Ministry will soon inspect the books of accounts of Aam Aadmi Party in connection with alleged illegal foreign funding to it. The move comes after the AAP sent replies to queries from the Home Ministry regarding violation of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act while receiving funds from abroad. “We need further interaction with the AAP as we need some clarification on their replies. We will inspect their books of accounts,” a senior official said.

    The Home Ministry probe into the foreign fundings to AAP came following a directive of Delhi High Court in response to a public interest litigation. The AAP, which is all set to form government in Delhi, said it was ready for any kind of probe and insisted that it had taken donations only from Indians, residing in the country or abroad. “If we are found guilty of any wrongdoing, we will accept double the punishment,” AAP leader Yogendra Yadav said. The AAP had said it has collected about Rs 19 crore till November 8 as donations from 63,000 people including a host of NRIs.

    It has claimed to have received donations ranging from Rs 10 to several lakhs, from rickshawpullers to traders and industrialists to fight the polls and bring a “graft-free” administration. Former Chief Minister of Delhi Sheila Dikshit had questioned the source of funding of AAP, whose main election plank was to check corruption. The AAP had a stunning debut in the recent Delhi assembly election, winning 28 out of 70 seats. AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal will be sworn in as Chief Minister of Delhi on Saturday after Congress with eight MLAs extended outside support to the nascent party.

  • KEJRIWAL QUESTIONS TIMING OF STEEP HIKE IN CNG PRICES

    KEJRIWAL QUESTIONS TIMING OF STEEP HIKE IN CNG PRICES

    KAUSHAMBI (TIP): As CNG price in the national capital was hiked by a steep Rs 4.50 per kg, Delhi Chief Minister-designate Arvind Kejriwal has questioned the timing of the hike. Kejriwal, who will take oath on Saturday at the Ramlila Maidan as Delhi’s seventh chief minister, said: “Just 2 days before Government formation, CNG prices were hiked, what was the hurry, could have waited, asked the elected Government also.” “Will hold talks to see if CNG price hike is justified, concerns of auto-drivers will be addressed. If rollback is not possible then fares have to be revised,” he added. The price of CNG has been raised by 4 rupees 50 paise per kg in Delhi.

    This is the second hike in CNG rates in three months. The new rate came into effect from midnight last night. Indraprastha Gas Ltd said, CNG will now cost 50 rupees 10 paise per kg in Delhi and 56 rupees and 70 paise per kg in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad. The price of cooking gas piped to kitchens has also been increased by 2 rupees a kg. The piped natural gas, PNG in Delhi will now cost 29 rupees and 50 paise per standard cubic metre up to consumption of 30 scm in two months.

  • Arvind Kejriwal to be Delhi Chief Minister

    Arvind Kejriwal to be Delhi Chief Minister

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Soon after announcing the party’s intent of forming the government in Delhi, Aam Aadmi Party leaderArvind Kejriwal met Lt Governor Najeeb Jung. “I told the LG that AAP is ready to form government. LG told me he will send the proposal to President and get back after his direction,” Kejriwal said. The swearing-in ceremony will take place at Ramlila Maidan on December 28. The party took the decision to form the government at a meeting of political affairs committee after analyzing the results of the public referendum it had carried out in the last few days on the issue.

    Arvind Kejriwal, who led the debutante party to a spectacular victory in the polls winning 28 seats in the 70-member assembly, will be the chief minister of Delhi, party leader Manish Sisodia said. “We were called by the LG to discuss government formation on December 14. We had sought time to take a decision as ours is a party of common people and we want to their views. “We got responses from the citizens through website, phone calls, SMS and by holding public meetings and most of them favoured government formation by AAP. We are now going to give the letter to LG saying that AAP is ready to form the government,” Kejriwal told reporters at AAP’s office in Kausambi here, some time ago. He said the party held 280 public meetings across Delhi and in 257 such gatherings people favoured formation of government by the party while the rest opined that they it should not take powers.

    There has been deadlock over government formation in Delhi for nearly two weeks after the announcement of the results on December 8. AAP has 28 seats while Congress with 8 has agreed to give outside support. BJP is the single largest party with 31 seats in its kitty. A civil servant-turned-politician, 45-yearold Kejriwal had himself participated in scores of meetings in the last one week to know people’s views on government formation. The debutante party was under pressure to form government after BJP refused to do so and Congress wrote to Delhi lt governor about giving unconditional support to AAP to form the government. Earlier, both Congress and BJP had attacked AAP for refusing to form the government, saying it was shying away from the responsibilities knowing that it cannot fulfil the promises like cutting the power tariff by 50 per cent and providing 700 litres of free water daily to each household in the city.

    After the results of the polls were out, AAP had ruled out taking support of any political party to form the government, saying it will play the role of a “constructive opposition”. Asserting that there was no confusion over the chief ministerial candidate, Sisodia said Kejriwal has been party’s choice for the top post. “There were rumours about who will be the chief minister. AAP had said earlier that the party would contest election with Arvind Kejriwal as CM candidate. Then in our manifesto also we have reiterated this. After the election results were out, he was elected as the leader of the legislative party. So Arvind Kejriwal will be the chief minister,” Sisodia said. To criticism about holding public meetings on the issue, Kejriwal said unlike other parties, AAP wants participation of public on important issues and to bring real democracy.

    AAP, which made an electrifying debut in the polls, was formally launched on November 26, 2012. It came into existence following differences between Kejriwal and Hazare regarding whether or not to politicise the popular India Against Corruption(IAC) movement that had been demanding a Jan Lokpal Bill since 2011. Hazare preferred that the movement should remain apolitical while Kejriwal felt the failure of the agitation route necessitated a direct political involvement. The AAP has led several protests since its formation. Among these was a campaign against an alleged nexus between government and private corporations relating to price rise for electricity and water in Delhi. Another saw the party demanding justice for victims of sexual harassment and rape, including the introduction of a stronger anti-rape law. Hazare and Kejriwal made it known on September 19, 2012 that their differences regarding a role in politics were irreconcilable. Kejriwal had support from some wellknown people involved in the anti-corruption movement, such as Prashant Bhushan and Shanti Bhushan, but was opposed by others such as Kiran Bedi and Santosh Hegde.

  • Aam Aadmi Party reaches out to Anna Hazare, vows to fight for Jan Lokpal

    Aam Aadmi Party reaches out to Anna Hazare, vows to fight for Jan Lokpal

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Reflecting a thaw in their relations with Anna Hazare, a team of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on December 12 called on the Gandhian whose indefinite fast entered its third day and vowed to continue lending support to his fight for an effective Jan Lokpal. Terming Hazare as “a permanent source of inspiration” for his party, Kumar Vishwas, a frontline AAP leader, trashed talks of continued differences with the anti-graft campaigner. Vishwas, who along with five others was despatched here to express solidarity with 76-year-old Hazare, fasting for passage of the Jan Lokpal Bill pending in the Rajya Sabha for two years, said their leader Arvind Kejriwal too wanted to come but could not as he was indisposed.

    “Arvind Kejriwal is not well but he spoke to Anna who gave him his blessings. He also asked Arvind to take care of his health as he has to fight a big battle for the country. Kejriwal also requested Anna to call off his fast but was told that a Parliamentary select committee has made some suggestions and he wanted to see in what form the Jan Lokpal Bill is presented in the Rajya Sabha,” Vishwas told reporters. “If the Bill is not along the lines of the draft that was passed by Anna at Ramlila Maidan and Jantar Mantar and the two parties (Congress and BJP) dilute it using the camouflage of words, we will not accept it and continue our political protests,” he said. Viswas said AAP was confident of winning an absolute majority if re-elections are held for Delhi Assembly and, if that happened, the party would pass “Anna’s Jan Lokpal Bill”, have it notified in the gazette and present a copy of the law to Hazare at Ralegan Siddhi in the presence of all its MLAs. He said Hazare expressed happiness over the way they contested the elections which enabled even candidates from the depressed sections to win.

  • Arvind Kejriwal to hold hangouts with US and Canadian supporters

    Arvind Kejriwal to hold hangouts with US and Canadian supporters

    WASHINGTON (TIP): Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal plans to hold hangouts with his supporters in the US and Canada later this month, seeking contribution from the Indian diaspora for nation building. Kejriwal would hold the hangouts on October 20, a statement issued through Bay Area chapter of AAP, USA said. “We see expatriate Indians as an integral part of India. They have plenty to contribute to the country in terms of knowhow and expertise in every possible field imaginable,” Kejriwal said in the statement. “Most importantly, they are eager to give back to their mother land. We will leave no stone unturned when it comes to tapping into this resource,” he said. “I am looking forward to hosting this special get together at my home with my friends and family. They are keen on hearing Arvind first hand. I am sure this will have a ripple effect as they carry AAP’s message to their respective circle of friends,” AAP volunteer in US, Mohan Thirumalai, said. We anticipate a significant turnout with thousands of attendees as volunteers reach out to their respective networks, a Chicagobased organization development consultant, Shalini Gupta said. Formally launched in November 2012, the party is contesting its first election – the assembly polls in Delhi — in December 2013.

  • Aam Aadmi Party Joins Sikh Protest Against Sajjan’s Acquittal

    Aam Aadmi Party Joins Sikh Protest Against Sajjan’s Acquittal

    NEW DELHI (TIP): In support of the Sikh community’s protests over the acquittal of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on May 3 joined the hunger strike for a day at Jantar Mantar in central Delhi. “We are joining hands with our Sikh brothers to protest against the acquittal of Sajjan Kumar. We will join the protest of the family of Nirpreet Kaur, who began her indefinite hunger strike from May 3,” Manish Sisodia, senior AAP member said. In solidarity with Kaur, AAP members Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sidoda, Gopal Rai, Sanjay Singh and Kumar Vishwas will also sit on a day’s fast, and later continue to support her indefinite hunger strike. Various Sikh groups have been on protest since Tuesday, ever since the verdict was pronounced. On Thursday, they staged a protest at the residence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Over 115 protesters were detained and later let off.

  • Kejriwal’s Party To Launch Its Own News Channel

    Kejriwal’s Party To Launch Its Own News Channel

    Channel will fight for the rights of common man
    NEW DELHI (TIP): Social activist Arvind Kejriwal’sAam Aadmi Party (AAP) has announced its decision tolaunch its own news channel to focus on common issuesand propagate the party ideology.A decision to this effect was taken by the fledglingparty’s executive.To start with, the party will use the YouTubeplatform to upload three hour-hour news capsules. Afull-fledged channel would go on the air by the end ofthis year to coincide with state assembly elections inDelhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.The Aam Aadmi Party launched in October last yearis expected to make its electoral debut in these stateelections before contesting the next year’s generalelections.

    Article continues below
    Former television journalist Shazia Ilmi, who isclosely associated with AAP, would head the channel.According to Manoj Sisodia, a close confidante ofKejriwal, the channel would focus on news concerningthe common man and provide them a platform to fightfor their rights. The channel would in all probability benamed after the party.Political parties, particularly down south are knownto run news channels. Tamil Nadu chief minister JJayalalithaa’s All India Anna Dravida MunnetraKazhagam (AIADMK) runs Jaya TV, Kalaignar TV isassociated with her arch-rival M. Karunanidhi’sDravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).

    In neighbouringKerala, the Congress party runs Jaihind channel whilethe Left Front runs Kairali TV.The need to launch its own television channel wasfelt after Kejriwal, who broke away with anticorruptioncrusader Anna Hazare to enter into politics,felt several news channels had started avoidingfollowing deformation suit filed on behalf ofindustrialist and richest Indian Mukesh Ambani afterthey telecast in November live a press conference ofKejriwal in which he accused Ambani-owned RelianceIndustries Limited of being involved in several corruptpractices, particularly in the fields of petroleum andnatural gas.

    Kejriwal recently reacted by daring Ambani to takehim to court since he addressed the press conferenceand termed the deformation notice as attempt tobrowbeat privately-owned news channels.It is not yet clear if the information and broadcastingministry, which had laid down guidelines to denypolitical parties access to television channels, wouldissue the necessary clearance for launch of theproposed channel.

  • Arvind Kejriwal Targets Delhi CM On Power Tariffs

    Arvind Kejriwal Targets Delhi CM On Power Tariffs

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Ahead of Delhi assembly elections inNovember, Aam Aadmi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwalhas trained his guns on chief minister Sheila Dikshit,accusing the Delhi government of conniving with privatepower distribution companies to increase power tariffs inthe Capital by showing “false” figures on losses.After several exposes on political leaders and corporatebig-wigs, Kejriwal accused the Delhi government and theDelhi Electricity Regulatory Commission of playing intothe hands of the private power companies, owned by AnilAmbani and the Tata group.

    Kejriwal said whileprivatising power distribution in Delhi in 2002, thegovernment had promised tariffs would come down asdistribution losses would be reduced. He said 11 years afterprivatisation though distribution losses have come downfrom 55% to 15%, electricity bills have gone up for Delhiites. Kejriwal alleged private powercompanies were “hiding” their revenuesand should therefore be audited by CAG.Addressing a press conference on a daywhen a3% increase in power tariff becameapplicable, Kejriwal accused Dikshit ofstalling a 2010 order of DERC, in whichformer chairperson Brijender Singh hadobserved that private distributioncompanies were making huge profits and,as a consequence, power tariffs should bereduced by 23%.

    Kejriwal said since 2010 the chairpersonhas changed and the power tariffs havegone up, first by 22% in August 2011 andthen by 32% in June 2012. “We havecalculated that for a household thatconsumes 200 units in 2 months, when thepower bill should have been Rs 503, thehousehold pays Rs 1,505 and has paid Rs7,910 extra in the last three years to theprivate companies. Similarly, for ahousehold that consumes 400 units in twomonths, the bill should be Rs 2,205, but itactually is Rs 4,400. This household hasalready paid Rs 19,443 extra in the last threeyears,” Kejriwal said.Reacting to the allegations levied byKejriwal, Tata PowerBSE 1.43 % Delhi CEOPraveer Sinha said there was a need to lookat the situation in proper perspective. “Ourtariffs are lower than neighbouring states,”he added. A BSES spokesperson said: “Theallegations posed are completely baselessand wild to mislead the citizens of Delhi.Issues raised have no relation whatsoeverwith the ground realities and are meant forpersonal gains.”The Chief Minister’s Office termedKejriwal’s accusations as a “bunch of lies”.State power minister Haroon Yusuf saidKejriwal was trying to “sensationalise theissue as he did not say anything new”.Kejriwal demanded that a case of fraudshould be lodged against Anil Ambani ashis company, BSES, had allegedly fudgedaccounts to show huge losses. Kejriwalaccused the new DERC chairman PDSudhakar of “working as an agent” ofprivate distribution companies.

  • Anna Says He Will Not Vote for Kejriwal’s Party

    Anna Says He Will Not Vote for Kejriwal’s Party

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Anna blames Arvind Kejriwal’s fascination for power for split in anti-graft movement and says his Aam Aadmi Party is also going the same way as others by taking the path of ‘money through power’. Blaming Arvind Kejriwal’s fascination for power for split in anti-graft movement, Anna Hazare on Thursday said he will not vote for the Aam Aadmi Party charging that it is going the same way as others by taking the path of ‘money through power’ and vice versa. Asked whether his former aide has become “greedy” for power, the 75-year-old activist said, “It was right”. “I thought I will (vote for AAP) but now I find it difficult because it is being seen that it is moving towards the path of ‘money through power and power through money’, I will not be anywhere near them,” he said at a session of a two-day programme ‘Agenda’ organised by ‘Aaj Tak’ news channel.

    He was responding to a question whether he will vote for AAP, the party formed by Kejriwal after his split with Hazare on the question of the anticorruption movement taking a political plunge. Hazare had earlier said that he will support the party if it fields honest candidates and that he will campaign for Kejriwal if he fights against union minister Kapil Sibal. Asked whether Kejriwal has become greedy for power and it resulted in the split, Hazare said, “This is right. Earlier I used to think that Arvind is into selfless service. But I don’t understand how this thought of entering politics came into his mind.” He also agreed to a question it was Kejriwal’s political ambition that led to the split. ‘A movement was on for the first time after independence for system change. People were coming out. I thought a good movement has been evolved.

    There was a feeling that this will earn results. But at that time, I don’t understand, how such a thought came into his mind,’ Hazare said. He said there was a need for unity in the fight for system change and against corruption among all including Kejriwal, Swami Ramdev and others. ‘This revolution is not complete. We need to stand united. We all, Ramdev, Arvind, should fight together. Arvind faltered on the way. Ramdev also should severe links with communal organisations,’ he said. On Narendra Modi, he said that there was a lot of corruption in Gujarat and as chief minister, he has not brought Lokayukta Bill in his state. ‘Why is he not bringing the bill? Everyone is into making money using power,’ he said.

  • Team Kejriwal is now ‘Aam Aadmi Party’

    Team Kejriwal is now ‘Aam Aadmi Party’

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Identifying themselves with common citizens, anti-corruption activist Arvind Kejriwal and his team on November 24 christened their political party “Aam Aadmi Party” (AAP) and adopted a constitution that focuses on the ideology of decentralised democracy.

    “Youth and women will play important role in the party,” Mr. Kejriwal told supporters after the party name was adopted at a meeting of the newly formed National Council. The name will be adopted at a public meeting on Monday at Jantar Mantar here. The party has already applied for registration with the Election Commission which will allot a symbol to it.

    He said the name India Against Corruption (IAC) would no longer be used by them. Stung by the choice of the name that strikes at the Congress’ core slogan — Congress ka haath aam aadmi ke saath (Congress is with the common man) — Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari said the term aam aadmi had been synonymous with the Indian National Congress since 1885. Nobody could hijack the intrinsic relationship between the Congress and the aam aadmi. Responding to it, AAP member Sanjay Singh said the Congress had never been with the aam aadmi.

    “It has been with the likes of Robert Vadra, Ambanis, A. Raja and Kalmadi.” The name, Aam Aadmi Party, was proposed by Mr. Kejriwal himself and adopted unanimously at the council meeting attended by 300 members. The constitution of the party was also adopted. The council elected a 23- member National Executive which has eight vacancies and can co-opt five more members. Among the National Executive members are Kejriwal, Prashant Bhushan, Anand Kumar, Yogendra Yadav, Christina Samy, Shazia Ilmi, Illiyas Azmi, Habung Peyand, Prem Singh Pahadi, Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, Gopal Rai and Mayank Gandhi. Questions were raised about lack of representation from the South, to which Mr. Kejriwal said they were looking for the right people. He admitted that the number of women too was lower than what they had hoped for.

    Asked if the AAP would contest all 545 Lok Sabha seats and give women 33 per cent representation, Mr. Kejriwal said the party would contest all seats. “But if there is an election tomorrow, we may not have candidates to contest all seats. As for women, we have said that one of the two conveners will be a woman at all levels from college, to village to block, district and upwards.” An ‘ordinary member’ would have no voting rights until he/she was made an active member after four months of working for the party. The party would contest the Delhi Assembly elections next year.

    The council decided that the gram sabha would be taken as the unit for development and mohalla panels in cities would decide about their development needs. They might exercise the “right to recall” candidates who did not deliver. Getting justice from judiciary would be a “right” and people would have the power to move an ‘initiative’ on any law they require or a ‘referendum’ on any legislation they want to be revised. Bhushan said the party would work for bringing about a systemic change in politics.

    Psephologist Yogendra Yadav described the birth of the AAP as a result of a “spontaneous upsurge of masses.” “The party will shun dynastic politics and have provisions against more than one member of a family holding office during one term,” Mr. Kejriwal said.

  • Black money: Kejriwal targets Ambani brothers, Naresh Goyal

    Black money: Kejriwal targets Ambani brothers, Naresh Goyal

    NEW DELHI (TIP): In his latest round of allegations, Arvind Kejriwal today targeted multinational HSBC Bank accusing it of indulging in money laundering and claimed Ambani brothers,Naresh Goyal and Congress MP Annu Tandonhad parked their blackmoney in its Genevabranch.

    Addressing a press conference, Kejriwal and lawyer Prashant Bhushan alleged around Rs 6,000 crore blackmoney was lying in 700 accounts of the Geneva branch of the bank.

    They claimed that people who had deposited “small amounts of money” in the bank were raided but “big fish” like Mukesh and Anil Ambani, Naresh Goyal ( Jet Airways), Tandon and Burmans (Anand, Pradeep and Ratan) of Dabur were “let off” at the behest of the government.

    The activists claimed that the Ambani brothers had Rs 100 crore each, Reliance Group’s Motech Software Rs 2,100 crore, late Sandeep and Annu Tandon Rs 125 crore each, Naresh Goyal Rs 80 crore and Dabur’s Burman brothers Rs 25 crore in the list of around 700 people having accounts in HSBC as of 2006.

    Spokesmen for HSBC and Burman brothers declined to comment while Tandon called the allegations “utterly baseless and motivated”.

    Rejecting the allegations, Mukesh Ambani-headed Reliance Industries Ltd said neither RIL or Mukesh have or had any “illegitimate” accounts anywhere in the world.

    “As part of normal business, international subsidiaries of RIL deal with several global banks including HSBC. These accounts are fully complain with all regulations and are disclosed in their appropriate jurisdictions and in India.
    “The continued tirade of baseless allegations being made by IAC against us appears to be instigated by vested interests,” an RIL statement said.

    RIL sources referred to an HSBC statement of January this year in which the Bank had apologised to Mukesh Ambani for putting the name in the list of beneficiary account holders.

    The two activists of India Against Corruption (IAC) also alleged that the UPA government underManmohan Singh was “sold out” and it is the “biggest danger” as it is surrendering economic sovereignty of the country.
    They expressed fears that terrorists in Pakistan or criminals can exploit the method of money transfer in HSBC for their activities in India.

    Though they do not have “official documents” with regard to the businessmen holding accounts, Kejriwal claimed they checked with several sources after receiving an input from a Congress leader, who was inducted into the government in the recent cabinet reshuffle.

    He also provided statements of three persons, whose names appeared in the list and questioned by Income Tax officials, in which they have told interrogators that HSBC facilitated them opening accounts without them going to Geneva. The money was handed to over to an agent here and whenever, they wanted to withdraw they used to contact a person in Geneva and the amount was delivered in India, he alleged. “There is no physical transfer of money. This is money laundering. The statements by the three persons reveal that HSBCis openly and brazenly running a hawala racket in India. “These statements are enough to arrest HSBC officials. Their operations should be immediately suspended as it is a fit case for charging them under sedition and waging war against India,” Kejriwal said. Alleging that only about 125 of the 700 persons named in the list were raided, Kejriwal sought to question the rationale behind the pick and choose policy of the government in excluding the big fish from the raids. Denying the allegations, Tandon, who was the Managing Director of Motech Software, said “you go and ask him on what he is making such allegations. I don’t think he has anything to prove this.”

    Ambanis deny allegations

    The Ambani brothers today rejected allegations by Arvind Kejriwal that they had parked blackmoney in HSBC Bank in Geneva and denied that they had any accounts there.

    Strongly denying the allegations, Mukesh Ambani-headed Reliance Industries Ltd said neither RIL or Mukesh have or had any “illegitimate” accounts anywhere in the world.

    “As part of normal business, international subsidiaries of RIL deal with several global banks including HSBC. These accounts are fully complain with all regulations and are disclosed in their appropriate jurisdictions and in India. “The continued tirade of baseless allegations being made by IAC against us appears to be instigated by vested interests,” an RIL statement said.

    In a separate statement, the Anil Ambani-headed Reliance Group categorically denied all allegations made by Kejriwal against him. “Mr Anil D Ambani had no bank accounts with HSBC in Geneva,” it said. The Reliance Group statement said it is “regrettable that such baseless allegations are being made by IAC at the behest of vested interests”.

  • Haryana’s clean chit to Vadra a cover-up: Kejriwal

    Haryana’s clean chit to Vadra a cover-up: Kejriwal

    New Delhi (TIP): India Against Corruption (IAC) leader Arvind Kejriwal on October 26 termed as a cover-up the clean chit given by Haryana government to Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, in land purchase deals in the state.

    “Newspapers say Haryana officers have given clean chit to Vadra. It was expected… there are some people in this county against whom no investigation can be made,” alleged Kejriwal.

    “Does any government agency in the country have the guts to investigate him?” asked Kejriwal, adding: “One officer, Ashok Khemka, tried to dare but he was transferred. I know all the investigations would be done for giving clean chit to Vadra.”

    Clearing Vadra of any wrong-doing, four Haryana bureaucrats said there were no irregularities in the land purchases done by Vadra and his companies.

    Official sources in Chandigarh confirmed that the deputy commissioners (DCs) of Gurgaon, Faridabad, Mewat and Palwal have said that there was no “wrong-doing” in the land purchases done by Vadra and his companies in their respective districts.

    Senior Haryana cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Ashok Khemka had asked the DCs of the four districts Oct 12 to inquire into Vadra’s land deals in their areas since 2005.

    They were also asked to see if the purchase of the land had been undervalued to evade stamp duty. Khemka, who was director-general, consolidation, then had sought the report by Oct 25.

    However, Khemka was removed from the post by the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government. Though the government tried to project it as a routine transfer, government sources said it was apparent that Khemka was shifted as he opened the probe against Vadra’s land deals on Oct 8. The sources said that Vadra had made the land purchases in a “transparent” manner and had paid the stamp duty as per the prevailing collector rate in each district.

    Vadra and his companies had made land purchases in Gurgaon, Palwal, Mewat and Faridabad districts from 2005. The total land bought by Vadra in these districts was over 170 acres.

  • Arvind Kejriwal, Prashant Bhushan In Line Of Friendly Fire

    Arvind Kejriwal, Prashant Bhushan In Line Of Friendly Fire

    NEW DELHI (TIP): After dominating headlines as anticorruption mavericks India Against Corruption (IAC) members Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan found themselves at the receiving end of high-voltage attack from a fellow anti-corruption activist. Y P Singh, a former Mumbai cop and an active member of the Mumbai chapter of IAC, accused the Bhushan-Kejriwal duo of letting off BJP leader Nitin Gadkari with a “dud” while suppressing far more incriminating evidence on NCP chief Sharad Pawar. Singh alleged that the acts of “omission and commission” were deliberate and meant to facilitate Kejriwal’s aspirations for the upcoming Delhi elections. The former cop said that Kejriwal and Bhushan decided to play up the charges against Gadkari even when those were “legally weak” because they were anxious to put the BJP on the same footing as Congress clearly with an eye to contest Delhi elections.

    The activists rejected the charge saying, “We raised pending allegations of corruption against Sharad Pawar in May, 2012. Pawar was one of the 15 ministers against whom IAC presented documents. The issue was also raised in July when Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Gopal Rai sat on an indefinite fast demanding an independent SIT probe.” Singh’s attack, however, fed into the confusion that gripped national Capital’s political circles, even activists, when Kejriwal and Bhushan concentrated their fire on Gadkari. Until 5pm on October 17, the national Capital was agog with the estimate that IAC was going to unleash “explosive” material on both Gadkari and a senior NCP leader. Sources in the IAC had also confirmed that the disclosures would be targeted at more than one politician.

    The switch of tactic has been interpreted in the light of IAC’s need to project neutrality in light of the torrent of Congress’s taunts that they were the B-team of the BJP. IAC has targeted Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and has been keeping a safe distance from Baba Ramdev in order to dodge the latter’s pro-Hindutva sensitivities. It has also made a demonstrative attempt to shake off the charge of being a RSS front by replacing the picture of Bharat Mata with that of Mahatma Gandhi as the backdrop of its dais, while Bhushan’s stance on J&K are hugely at odds with those of the BJP.

    But Congress has kept at the “B-team” allegation, disregarding in the process the involvement of activists like Medha Patkar and Santosh Hegde, who have a history of annoying the BJP. While IAC’s termed as insinuation that they were soft on Pawar, Singh’s attack showcased that they could be equally vulnerable to the weapons that they have used to target the establishment. The evaporation of government’s monopoly over information, social media and new modes of communication as well as new devices like the Right to Information may have facilitated many activists who feel empowered by the success of Kejriwal and Bhushan to gatecrash the elite club of politicians. With the reverence for authority gone, Singh has shown that the stature of Kejriwal and Bhushan may not deter their comrades from setting standards which they would like the “movement” to conform to. Failure to live up to those will attract charges of betrayal. Having cracked the code of silence, Bhushan and Kejriwal can expect to be judged by a higher standard; perhaps even tougher than they have prescribed for others.

  • Salman Khusrshid Issues Veiled Threat To Kejriwal

    Salman Khusrshid Issues Veiled Threat To Kejriwal

    NEW DELHI: Union law minister Salman Khurshid is in the midst of another row, with TV channels showing him issuing a veiled threat to activists of India Against Corruption (IAC), who have announced to protest against the minister in his constituency, Farrukhabad.

    The law minister is at the loggerheads with the IAC over the functioning of Zakir Hussain Memorial Trust, run by Salman Khurshid and his wife Louise. In an address to his supporters, as shown on TV channels, Khurshid is heard saying, “Let him come to Farrukhabad, let him come to Farrukhabad… but will he be able to return from Farrukhabad?”

    The Union law minister further says… “I was told to work with a pen. I will continue to work with the pen, but time has come to also work with the blood.” India Against Corruption has reacted strongly to the law minister’s remarks and has sought the intervention of the Prime Minister and the President.

    Refusing to bow down to threats, they have announced to go ahead with their protest programme in Farrukhabad. Reacting to Salman Khushid’s comments, Arvind Kejriwal has said it is not right for the country’s law minister to use such a language. He tweeted, “Killing me won’t help. Kyonki poora desh jaag gaya hai. Ek arvind marega to 100 arvind khade honge.”