NEW DELHI : Amid a face-off with the Centre over a proposed metro fare hike, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has offered to take over the Delhi Metro claiming to make it more efficient and said the Aam Aadmi Party government was ready to provide half the funds needed to meet the gap in its finances for three months.
In a letter to Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Mr Kejriwal said the Centre bore the entire loss of Kolkata Metro and there should be no difficulty if it provided half the funds in the case of Delhi.
Mr Puri had on Friday told the Delhi government it would need to pay Rs. 3,000 crore annually for five years if it wanted to stop fare hikes on the Delhi Metro.
Arvind Kejriwal said Mr Puri’s contention that the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation was bound to follow the Fare Fixation Committee’s recommendations seemed “untenable”.
Citing Section 86 of the DMRC Act, he said it was the Centre which had set up the fourth Fare Fixation Committee after a lapse of seven years. Therefore, the Union minister’s contention that the central government was “powerless” in respect of fare fixation was “flawed”.
The Fare Fixation Committee-recommended fare hike, a second in seven months, will come into effect on October 10.
Mr Kejriwal said the AAP government was confident it would be able to fund the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation by improving its efficiency rather than imposing fare hikes.
“As for your suggestion regarding a grant to the DMRC (Delhi Metro) for meeting the gap in their finances, my government is willing to bear half the grant if only a matching grant is provided by the central government.”
“As you know, the central government and the Delhi government are 50-50 owners of the DMRC (Delhi Metro) and its equity etc. have been shared in this proportion all along,” Mr Kejriwal said in his letter.
“Let an assessment be made of the financial gap likely to be created on account of the postponement of the second fare hike and we will be able to bear half of it,” he said.
Sources in the Delhi government said that the chief minister offered to provide on a short-term basis, half the funds the DMRC (Delhi Metro) needed to meet the gap in its finances so that another Fare Fixation Committee could be set up to recommend fresh fares.
Besides cooperative federalism, the point remains that the Centre and Delhi government are equal partners in the DMRC, Mr Kejriwal said. “From the recent developments, it is becoming evident that the relationship is not one of equal partners since what the Delhi government proposes is often summarily disposed by the Cental government.”
“If the Central government agrees, Delhi government would be willing to take over the DMRC (Delhi Metro),” he said.
Fares will go up by a maximum of Rs. 10 after the latest hike comes into effect.
The existing fare structure is: up to 2 kms — Rs. 10, 2-5 kms — Rs. 15, 5-12 kms — Rs. 20, 12-21 kms — Rs. 30, 21-32 kms — Rs. 40 and for journeys beyond 32 kms — Rs. 50.
From October 10, for a distance of up to two kilometres, the fare will remain Rs. 10, but for a distance between two and five kilometres, it will go up from Rs. 15 to Rs. 20. For the subsequent slabs, it will go up by Rs. 10 each, which means the maximum fare will be Rs. 60.
Delhi Metro managing director Mangu Singh also met the chief minister at his residence today. It was immediately not known as to what transpired at the meeting.
The chief minister was speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the ‘Perfect Health Mela’
New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has asked city residents to devote ten minutes everyday to inspect their household for signs of mosquito-breeding as a means to prevent dengue and chikungunya.
The chief minister was speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the ‘Perfect Health Mela’, a health fair organised from October 4-8 at the Talkatora Stadium here by an NGO.
“I, Delhi health minister and deputy chief minister, did a lot of research, and we realised that if people, in every household, devoted at least 10 minutes in the morning to check any signs of mosquito-breeding or potential places of breeding, we can prevent the occurrences of dengue and chikungunya,” Mr Kejriwal said.
Vector-borne diseases dengue and chikungunya are caused by the aedes agypti mosquito, which breeds in clear water. The anopheles mosquito, which causes malaria, can breed in both fresh and muddy water.
“Prevention is better than cure and therefore, people of Delhi must resolve that they will declare a war against vector-borne diseases. This year the number of cases of dengue and chikungunya compared to those recorded last year, are a lot less.
“We had started a campaign about one-and-a-half month ago and we have also made a film (educational) on it,” Mr Kejriwal said.
The Delhi government through outdoor campaigns and advertisements inside metro coaches has been raising awareness about prevention of dengue and chikungunya. The punchline being ‘Delhi residents declare a war against dengue and chikungunya’.
At least 756 fresh cases of dengue have been reported in the city till September 30, taking the number of people affected by the vector-borne disease this season to 3,865, according to the latest municipal report.
The number of malaria and chikungunya cases recorded in the same period stood at 95 and 589, respectively.
New Delhi: “I am an elected chief minister, not a terrorist,” Arvind Kejriwal said on Wednesday while dramatically hitting out at lieutenant governor Anil Baijal for “opposing” the Bill to regularise guest teachers in Delhi.
At a special session of the Delhi assembly on Wednesday, Kejriwal launched a broadside against the LG, BJP and the bureaucracy, alleging a nexus between them, which prompted a walk-out by the opposition.
“Hum Delhi ke maalik hai (we are Delhi’s masters), not the bureaucracy” he asserted at one point, which was greeted with loud cheers and table thumping by the Aam Aadmi Party MLAs. He was taking part in a discussion on a Bill introduced in the Assembly to regularise the employment of around 15,000 guest teachers (working on contractual basis) in Delhi government-run schools. The Bill was later passed by the House through voice vote.
Registering his objection, Baijal had said that matters relating to ‘services’ fall beyond the legislative competence of the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi and that the proposed legislation was not in accordance with the Constitutional scheme.
Kejriwal alleged that the files relating to the regularisation of the teachers were never shown to deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who also holds the education portfolio, by the officials on the direction of the LG.
“What state secrets do these files contain that they cannot be shown to us? I want to tell the LG that I am an elected CM of Delhi and not a terrorist. He (Sisodia) is an elected education minister, not a terrorist,” Kejriwal said, drawing references from a dialogue of the 2010 Shah Rukh Khan starrer My Name is Khan.
The AAP chief’s combative speech, something he is known for, comes after a long gap when he remained unusually quiet, even on social media, refraining from attacking the opposition or Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Kejriwal also took exception to Baijal’s objection that the government did not consult the law department before introducing the Bill.
“People did not elect the law secretary, they elected us. The country is run on democracy, not bureaucracy. We are Delhi’s masters. They (bureaucrats) will follow our orders,” he said.
Since storming to power in 2015, the AAP and the bureaucracy have shared an uneasy relationship with frequent run ins over matters of jurisdiction, mainly due to the capital’s administrative structure where the LG enjoys primacy over the elected CM.
Sisodia affirmed that the Bill was introduced after due legal consultations and wondered why the LG was objecting to it when he had cleared the government’s proposal to regularise the services of around 150 Kashmiri migrant teachers employed in the city’s schools on contractual basis since 1994.
“We do not agree with the LG’s assertion that the matter comes under services. It is a matter of education and his stand amounts to insulting the Constitution, the teachers and the entire education system. Education does not just mean constructing schools. Recruitments and appointments of teachers cannot be treated separately,” he said.
During the debate, leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta said the AAP government’s real intention was not regularisation, but politicisation of the issue, for which it “has not actually followed the laid down procedures governing a Bill.” “The foundation of the Bill is flawed. One has to go by the rule of law, not rhetoric,” Gupta said, when “invited” by Kejriwal to sort out the issues and bring amendments by sitting across the table “in my chamber”.
Reacting to Gupta’s objection, Kejriwal said that through his offer of an instant dialogue, he wanted to expose the “hollowness” of the opposition. “If you have the guts, then confront us openly. Do not take cover behind officials and fire at us,” Kejriwal said. Gupta hit back saying Kejriwal may be a good politician, but not a “capable administrator”. A few guest teachers were present at the visitors’ gallery of the House during the debate.
Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party is back to pitch for Gujarat, announcing the revival of its campaign with over a 100-vehicle road show that covered 22 km of eastern Ahmedabad, including pockets dominated by minorities and daily wagers.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had begun his bid last year to be the
third player in the elections in Gujarat, which has traditionally seen direct contests between the BJP and the Congress. The AAP, however, seemed to lose momentum after debilitating losses earlier this year in Punjab and Goa, two other states where it had sought to expand its influence.
It renews its Gujarat campaign amid a high-voltage battle already on between the two major players and former chief minister Shankersinh Vaghela quitting the Congress and launching a new party to stake claim as the third.
AAP, like Mr Vaghela, is expected to eat into the votes of the Congress, which dismissed the threat today alleging that Mr Kejriwal too is in Gujarat as the “B team” of the BJP. “During elections such small groups emerge as the BJP’s B team, but it won’t impact us. People will not be misled by such third parties,” said the Congress spokesman Manish Doshi.
Today’s AAP road show was flagged off by Delhi minister Gopal Rai, who is the party’s Gujarat in charge. AAP leaders stopped at various places, including Naroda Patiya, where almost 100 people were killed by rioters in the worst massacre of the 2002 Gujarat riots.
“People are fed up with corrupt practices of both the BJP and the Congress,” said Mr Rai. He said the party would decide on how many assembly seats to contest in Gujarat after “feedback from the ground.”
Chennai: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal met actor Kamal Haasan on Thursday in Chennai and urged him to enter politics.
Over the last few months, Haasan has been indicating his interest in joining politics and has been vocal about the present political chaos in Tamil Nadu.
The veteran actor said the meeting was more of a learning curve. “I’m on an educational tour,” seeking advice from people who are “fighting against corruption and communalism,” he said.
Amid growing speculation that the 62-year old actor is planning to launch his own political party, he also met Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan in Thiruvananthapuram earlier this month.
After meeting the Communist leader, Haasan said the Left leaders were his heroes, adding: “I’m definitely not saffron.’’
On Thursday, Haasan and Kejriwal told reporters they were united in the “fight against corruption and communalism.”
The Delhi chief minister said there were a large number of people who were strongly against corruption and communalism. But only few like Haasan are ready to stick their “neck out”.
He added: “Kamal is known for his integrity and courage. We exchanged views on the issues faced by Tamil Nadu and India as a whole. We will continue to meet and exchange our ideas.”
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Ahmedabad: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday said it will contest the upcoming Gujarat assembly elections, but will field candidates only on seats that meet certain criteria set by its central leadership.
The party’s Gujarat election in-charge and Delhi minister, Gopal Rai, told reporters that the decision to contest the elections was taken at a meeting held on Friday between the AAP’s state and central office-bearers. To formally launch the campaign, the party will hold a road show in Ahmedabad on 17 September, Rai said.
“The AAP has decided, after a long discussion, that it will contest the Gujarat assembly elections. We have framed three criteria and will contest on those seats which meet our criteria,” Rai said. He said the party will contest seats where it can find “competent candidates” who have no charges of corruption or criminal cases, and have upright character.
Elections to the 182-member assembly in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, are likely to be held by the year-end. The assembly seats selected by the party should have in-charge in each booth. Also, the party members will have to raise money to fund their campaign and spend it as per the norms set by the Election Commission, the minister said.
“Fund raised in a particular seat will be spent on campaigning in that constituency only,” Rai said. “We will focus our energies on only those seats which we can win. For that, we have formed a state-level committee which will oversee election management works,” he said, adding it is possible the party may end up fielding candidates on all the 182 seats.
The setback in civic polls in Delhi, where it lost to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), had left a shadow on the AAP’s plans to contest elections in Gujarat. Though the Arvind Kejriwal-led outfit had emerged as the principal opposition in Punjab in the recently held assembly elections, the result had left the party disappointed as its leaders had been hopeful of wresting power in the state after the AAP’s 2015 victory in Delhi.
However, it appears that the party has had a rethink after the recent win in Bawana bypoll. Rai said the party has also appointed a team to oversee election preparedness, he said, adding AAP member Kishor Desai has been appointed its convener. He said the party wants to provide an alternative to the people of Gujarat who are “tired” of the over two-decade- long rule of the BJP and feel the Congress is not a strong opposition party.
“We want to reach out to the people of Gujarat who understand that the BJP government has not been able to tackle their basic problems.” He said the AAP government in Delhi has created a model to help the common man through a host of initiatives in fields like education and health. The fledgling outfit wants to place this model before the Gujarat voters, Rai added.
New Delhi: Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) managed to retain the city’s Bawana constituency, keeping its seat tally in the 70-member legislative assembly at 66. The result of the by-election, a morale booster for chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and the AAP, was announced on Monday.
AAP’s Ram Chander managed to win by a margin of 24,000 votes over his closest rival Ved Prakash of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Congress candidate Surendra Kumar, who is a three-time member of the legislative assembly, came in third.
The by-poll was ordered after Prakash, who was the AAP member from the constituency in north-west Delhi, resigned the seat and switched to the BJP.
According to election commission, the AAP secured a vote share of 45.4%, the BJP 27.2% and the Congress 24.2%. “Thank you for choosing AAP in the by-poll election in Bawana. Congratulations to all the party volunteers, MLAs and colleagues for the win,” senior AAP leader and deputy chief minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia wrote on Twitter.
The win followed a series of electoral losses for the AAP, which lost the municipal corporation polls and the Rajouri Garden by-election to the assembly. It also performed poorly in the assembly elections in Punjab and Goa where it was in the fray for the first time.
In the run up to elections, senior leaders of the AAP including national convener Kejriwal made multiple visits to the constituency to campaign for the party. In its campaign, the party focused on the work that the AAP’s government had done in rural Delhi.
Bawana, one of Delhi’s largest constituencies, accounts for a large number of rural areas.
New Delhi: The survivors of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots are staying put in “horrible” conditions in the national capital and the Delhi government will repair their houses, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said today.
“The 1984 riot victims and refugees from Punjab (are) staying in horrible conditions. Delhi government today decided to repair their houses,” he tweeted.
Assembly elections in Punjab are slated to be held early next year and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has emerged as one of the main contenders for power in the state.
In June, the AAP had alleged that the Centre was incapable of providing justice to the victims of the anti-Sikh riots in Delhi that occurred in the wake of assassination of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi.
The party also demanded that the Delhi government should be allowed to form its own SIT (Special Investigative Team) to probe the riots.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court today refused to entertain a Delhi government plea that the high court be asked to first decide the preliminary issue as to whether it has the jurisdiction over disputes between the Centre and the state or is it “exclusively” triable by the top court.
The top court also asked the Delhi government, which had moved the high court seeking judgment on a scope of its powers under Article 239 AA of the Constitution, to approach it only after the Delhi High Court decides all the issues including the preliminary issue as to whether it has the jurisdiction over the dispute.
A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and UU Lalit said when the high court has heard the matter and reserved the judgement on all the issues including the preliminary issue of jurisdiction, it will be open to the Delhi government to approach it after the high court verdict on the entire issue.
Disposing off the AAP government’s appeal, the bench said the high court was a “constitutional court” and had the power to decide and interpret constitutional matters like this.
Senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for Delhi government, referred to constitutional provisions dealing with the powers of Delhi as a union territory.
“Delhi has an elected and responsible government and judgment of this court applies in this case that the Lt Governor has to run the administration on the aid and advice of the Chief Minister and Council of ministers,” Ms Jaising said, adding that this dispute was exclusively triable by the top court.
“Tell me why you (Delhi government) knocked the door of the Delhi High Court first. You knocked the doors of the Delhi High Court under Article 226. Now High Court has reserved the judgment and every court has the power to determine its jurisdiction. Whether it is adjudicable under Article 226 or under Article 131, the High Court can very well decide the jurisdiction,” the bench said.
Ms Jaising in her brief arguments said the high court has no power to decide the dispute of this nature between the Centre and the state and hence it be asked to decide the jurisdictional aspect as the preliminary issue.
The Supreme Court then asked the senior lawyer as to why the Delhi government did not withdraw its plea from the high court.
However, the top court agreed with the submission of the Delhi government that the dispute of the Constitutional nature between two federal entities should be decided expeditiously.
“You have come with the Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the matter when the High Court has already reserved the judgment,” the bench said, adding that high court is entitled to its views on Constitutional matters as they are “independent”.
“Had it been a (civil) suit or a writ petition, we will have issued notice instantly. What order can we pass today in this case. Why should we tell the high court that decide this issue or don’t decide it on merits”, the bench said.
Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the Centre, referred to an earlier order of the top court asking the Delhi High Court to finalise the matter by the end of July this year.
“High court had reserved the verdict pursuant to Supreme Court’s order. This is a misconceived SLP,” Mr Rohatgi said.
The bench also said “constitutional issues cannot be compromised. Once the matter is pending in the high court, then it shall decide the issue rightly or wrongly.”
Delhi government’s plea was listed for today’s bench as two judges of the top court — JS Khehar and L Nageshwar Rao had earlier recused from hearing it.
In its plea, Delhi government, has sought a declaration of its power and to restrain the high court from delivering the verdict on host of issues including the scope of its powers.
On July 4, the Arvind Kejriwal government had made unsuccessful efforts to ensure that its lawsuit for declaration of powers of Delhi as a state be heard along with its plea to restrain Delhi High Court from delivering verdict on a host of issues, including the scope of its powers.
Prior to this, the court had agreed to hear the Delhi government’s plea.
In its plea, Delhi government has claimed that only the top court had jurisdiction under the Constitution to deal with issues relating to the powers of States and Centre.
It has been alleged by the AAP government that it has been unable to function as most of its decisions are either annulled or changed by the Centre at the behest of Lieutenant Governor (LG) Najeeb Jung on the ground that Delhi is not a complete state.
In its appeal, the city government alleged that its power to do public services in the state has been adversely affected. It also raised a question as to whether the Union of India can take over all powers of the state government.
There is an ongoing power tussle between Delhi government and LG on various issues including the control over Anti-Corruption Branch and power to transfer or retain bureaucrats.
The high court had on May 24 reserved its verdict on the plea of AAP government seeking a stay on the proceedings on petitions arising out of its standoff with the LG over powers to appoint bureaucrats in the national capital and other issues.
The AAP government had sought a stay on proceedings on the ground that the issues involve a dispute of “federal nature” between the Centre and Delhi government and the Supreme Court had exclusive jurisdiction to deal with them.
A total of 11 cases arising out of the confrontation between the LG and Delhi government are being heard together by the high court.
Delhi government had on May 28 last year approached the high court challenging the Centre’s notification of May 21, 2015, giving the LG absolute powers to appoint bureaucrats in the city.
New Delhi: Delhi BJP workers today staged a protest at ITO in New Delhi and demanded resignation of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal alleging he was embroiled in the 400-crore water tanker scam and protecting corrupt officials.
The party workers raised slogans against the Kejriwal government and tried to march towards the Delhi Secretariat but were stopped by police personnel who used water cannons to disperse them.
Thereafter, the protesters, including Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyay and party lawmaker Ramesh Bidhuri, sat on a dharna on the road. They were taken to IP Estate police station but were released later.
“The Chief Minister suppressed the case of tanker scam for 11 months. His government made payments at a disproportionate rate to the tanker mafia and shared benefits,” Mr Upadhyay alleged in a statement.
He accused the AAP government of “protecting” Mr Kejriwal’s Principal Secretary Rajendra Kumar and demanded that CBI probe the “activities” of the official.
