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'Bhushan, Yadav tried to sabotage AAP': Ashish Khetan

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ashish-khetan

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday accused Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav of trying to sabotage the party before the Delhi assembly elections.

“They made efforts so that party loses… they told workers that let the party lose, it will be easy to remove Arvind,” AAP member Ashish Khetan said on Friday.

“When party was fighting an existential war, two party leaders were trying to weaken the party and malign its image. They were trying to aid formation of a BJP government,” Khetan said at a press conference, shortly after Bhushan and Yadav accused Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of suppressing democracy within the AAP.

Bhushan and Yadav, in a press conference on Friday, offered to resign if their demands – including transparency within and autonomy to local units – were met.

(IANS)

AAP warring factions fail to make any headway in talks

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Yogendra-Yadav-Prashant-Bhushan

New Delhi: Reconciliation talks between the two warring factions in AAP, appeared to have been collapsed today with chief minister Arvind Kejriwal insisting on Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan quitting the National Executive, ahead of the crucial National Council meeting on March 28.

Sources said Yadav and Bhushan made it clear that there was no valid ground for them to step down from the 21 member National Executive and the rival camp should instead address the issues raised by them.

Kejriwal, a key aide of his said, remained firm that the two should quit the National Executive before the National Council meeting on Saturday.

Last ditch efforts by party Lokpal Admiral Ramdas to push for reconciliation failed to make any headway with both camps sticking to their stands.

However, Ilyas Azmi, member of the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) said patch up efforts were still underway. “We will keep trying till the last minute,” he said after the PAC meeting here.

Ahead of the meeting, Ramdas, a former Navy chief, held deliberations with Kejriwal for more than an hour, during which he is understood to have conveyed to the party leader to take steps to restore unity and peace in the party.

“He (Kejriwal) is not willing to concede and has been demanding resignation of Bhushan and Yadav. Even Ramdas tried to intervene, but it is heading nowhere,” said a leader close to Yadav.

Those backing Bhushan and Yadav said that the two leaders will not concede to the demands of Kejriwal.

The internal rift figured in the PAC, the highest decision making body, where majority of the members reasserted their strong support to Kejriwal.

The party’s NC is expected to deliberate on the issues in the party. Both Kejriwal and Yadav are trying to consolidate volunteers support ahead of the meeting.

The talks that began last week with the aim of bridging the trust deficit between the two groups after Yadav and Bhushan were ousted from the PAC showed no signs of rapprochement.

Yadav and Bhushan have been pressing for resolution of key issues like implementation of critical matters such as volunteer participation in AAP’s decision making, autonomy to its state units, bringing the party under the ambit of RTI and appointment of Lokayukta at the state level.

Late in the night, Yogendra Yadav said, “A fake campaign is being run in my name. Callers with false identities proposing me as national convenor. Ridiculous. Outrageous. BEWARE!(sic).”

“More info about fake campaign coming in. If anyone calls you on my behalf and solicits support for me against AK (Arvind Kejriwal), please note the no and report,” Yadav tweeted.

The tweets came in the backdrop of reports that calls are being made and messages sent to AAP volunteers and National Council members purportedly on behalf of Yadav, projecting him as the National Convenor replacing Kejriwal.

Earlier, reports surfaced that AAP leader Shanti Bhushan was going to hold a meeting with the dissidents, a day before the party’s National Council meet on March 28, to discuss the issues of ‘swaraj’ and ‘internal democracy’.

Shanti Bhushan has, however, denied the reports.

(PTI)

AAP govt hikes Delhi water tariff 10%, Congress, BJP furious

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Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government’s decision to hike water tariff by 10 per cent in Delhi came under attack from both Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress who accused the Arvind Kejriwal-led party of going back on its electoral promises.

While BJP state president Satish Upadhyay tersely observed that “conditions” to AAP’s promises are being revealed now, Congress chief Ajay Maken said the move would put “additional burden” on common people.

Upadhyay further termed the decision as a “stab on people’s back”.

“It is shocking that in today’s important meeting of Delhi Jal Board no proposal has come for laying new water supply line in any area of Delhi but instead the Board has come up with a proposal to buy 250 new tankers,” he said.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who Friday chaired the 121th Board Meeting of Delhi Jal Board, gave his nod to increase the water tariff with an immediate effect. However, people consuming water up to 20,000 litres will not be affected due to the DJB’s decision.

Maken said the government had “betrayed” the trust and confidence of the people of Delhi, who had believed in the “false promises” made by the AAP before the Delhi Assembly elections, “only to regret now”.

(PTI)

Bhushan writes fresh letter to Kejriwal

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PrashanT-Bhushan

New Delhi: Dissident AAP leader Prashant Bhushan has written a fresh note to party chief Arvind Kejriwal, highlighting the “long-pending” issues he has been trying to raise.

The activist-lawyer has also rubbished reports that he has offered to quit the National Executive if Kejriwal pays heed to his demands.

“I have not offered to resign from the National Executive, but yes, I have written a note to Arvind regarding the long pending issues,” Bhushan said.

He, however, did not elaborate on the content of the note or the issues he has raised with Kejriwal or when it was sent to the Delhi Chief Minister.

“The issues are the same that we are talking about. Its just more crystalised (in the note),” Bhushan said.

Sources close to Yogendra Yadav, too, denied that he has offered to quit along with Bhushan. The party will hold its third round of meeting with Yadav’s representatives today, sources added.

The lawyer-activist had highlighted several issues including inner party democracy (Swaraj), one-upmanship in the party and bringing in high level of transparency in the functioning of the organisation.

On Monday, Bhushan had sent an SMS expressing his desire to meet him and put an end to all the controversy. However, the Delhi chief minister responded saying that they will meet soon, but only after the on-going budget session.

(PTI)

Defamation case: Kejriwal, Sisodia, Yogendra forced to appear

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Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia and dissident AAP leader Yogendra Yadav were today forced to appear before a Delhi Court in a criminal defamation case after their failure to do so drew a stinging remark by the judge that they have “no respect for law”.

“There is nothing to reflect why the accused (Kejriwal, Sisodia and Yadav) have not appeared. Accused have no respect for law. Considering no one has appeared for accused, I am keeping the matter pending at 2PM. Call at 2PM,” Metropolitan Magistrate Mayuri Singh said after the trio failed to comply with court’s order that they were to “positively” appear today.

Hours after the court rejected their plea for exemption from personal appearance for the day citing lawyers’ strike, the Chief Minister, Deputy CM and Yadav showed up before the Magistrate who marked their presence and fixed the case for May 2 for pronouncing order on the issue of whether to frame charges against the accused.

Kejriwal and Sisodia reached the court room together at around 1.45 pm while AAP leader Yogendra Yadav arrived few minutes later.

The presence of the Chief Minister resulted in over crowding of the court room and the premises prompting the magistrate to ask the onlookers to vacate the room.

On the arrival of the three leaders, the police barricaded the premises and the court room, which was already filled with advocates, litigants, mediapersons and staff of other courts, was latched from inside.

The case was put up before link magistrate Singh as Metropolitan Magistrate Muneesh Garg, before whom the matter was going on, was on leave today.

“As the presiding officer (before whom the case is going on) is on leave, I will fix the case for the purpose already fixed and will give you the date.

“I have marked the presence of the three accused, they can leave,” the magistrate said.

The three leaders had sought exemption from personal appearance for the day saying the case was at a crucial stage and the presence of advocates was necessary.

Later on, the lawyers, including senior advocate H S Phoolka and advocate Rahul Mehra, who accompanied the AAP leaders were without bands due to the strike.

In the morning, the court had directed them to personally appear before it at 2 pm saying there was no ground for exemption from their appearance and they “have no respect for the law”.

The court said the exemption application displayed no reason for the absence of the accused.

The court had noted that a clerk appeared on behalf of the accused and their advocates and moved the exemption plea.

The exemption plea, however, was opposed by complainant and advocate Surender Kumar Sharma saying the lawyers are on strike and not the litigants.

“It is mockery of justice. It would not be in the interest of justice if any adjournment is given in the case as the matter had earlier been adjourned three times due to absence of the accused,” he said.

The court had earlier issued summons against the three AAP leaders under sections 499, 500 (defamation) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC, and had said there was prima facie material to summon the accused.

The court had granted bail to Kejriwal, Sisodia and Yadav, after they had appeared before it on June 4 last year in pursuance to summons against them.

In the post-lunch proceedings, complainant Sharma who was accompanied by large number of lawyers sought court’s permission to advance arguments.

However, the magistrate denied the request saying the concerned court will hear the matter on the next date of hearing.

The court on February 11 had given last opportunity to Kejriwal, Sisodia and Yadav and directed them to positively appear before it today as it was scheduled to pass order on the issue of framing of charges.

Sharma, in his complaint, had alleged that in 2013 he was approached by volunteers of AAP who had asked him to contest the Delhi Assembly elections on a party ticket, saying Kejriwal was pleased with his social services.

He filled up the application form to contest the polls after being told by Sisodia and Yadav that AAP’s Political Affairs Committee of the party had decided to give him the ticket. However, it was later denied to him.

On October 14, 2013, the complainant claimed that articles in leading newspapers carried “defamatory, unlawful and derogatory words used by the accused persons” which have lowered his reputation in the Bar and the society.

While issuing summons against AAP leaders, the court had said, “The press release published in newspapers as well as testimonies of witnesses reflect that defamatory remarks were published in the newspaper which affected the reputation of the complainant in the society and lowered his reputation in the eyes of other members of the society.”

(PTI)

'Fresh and fit' Kejriwal discharged from Bengaluru

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Arvind-Kejriwal-Bangalore

Bengaluru: A “fresh and fit” Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was discharged on Monday from a hospital here after 10 days of naturopathy treatment to cure his chronic cough and high blood sugar and immediately left for the national capital.

“Kejriwal left for airport in a private vehicle to board an evening flight to Delhi. He has recovered from the twin symptoms he had when he came here on March 5 and is fine,” Jindal Naturecure Institute medical officer Jayachandran told media later.

 

Before leaving the hospital on the city’s outskirts, Kejriwal told the media that he was feeling “fresh and fit” and was excited to return home by late evening.

“My cough and blood sugar level are under control now. I am feeling fresh and fit after treatment at Jindal,” Kejriwal said after discharge.

Expressing gratitude to the hospital staff, including doctors and nurses, for taking care of him, Kejriwal said he was relieved to be free from nagging cough and high blood sugar as they affected his health and work.

“I am looking forward to be at home with family by night and resume work soon. I have been told to strictly keep away from aerated drinks and oily food. I have learnt a lot about the importance of diet, rest and regular exercises to stay fit and remain healthy,” Kejriwal pointed out.

He added in a tweet: “Am excited to return (to Delhi) to resume work.”

The 46-year-old Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader was driven to airport by the party’s state unit convener Prithvi Reddy, followed by a dozen volunteers.

Kejriwal, however, declined to comment on the crisis in the party, saying he was pre-occupied with the naturopathy treatment and had no time to discuss the issues with his colleagues in Delhi or here.

Kejriwal is accompanied by his parents Gobind Ram and Gita Devi, who too got treated for age related symptoms.

Asked about the cost of the treatment, Kejriwal hastened to say that he paid the hospital bills from his own money and won’t seek reimbursement from the Delhi government.

According to hospital sources, Kejriwal was billed Rs.17,000 a day for accommodation in a three-bed room cottage ‘Nest’ located in the midst of the sprawling institute campus on the Bengaluru-Pune National Highway.

“Total cost of treatment, including therapies, massages, yogic exercises and ayurvedic liquids, fresh juices and dietary food, would have been Rs.10,000-12,000 a day,” a source said on the condition of anonymity.

Aware of Kejriwal’s hectic schedule and pre-occupation with political and other engagements, doctors have advised him to maintain a strict diet, take food at the prescribed hour and go to bed early and to get up early.

“As Kejriwal is unable to extend his stay here due to the upcoming budget session (of the Delhi assembly) and other pressing engagements, we have prescribed a regime comprising naturopathy treatment, diet and exercises,” Jindal medical director Babina Nandakumar told IANS.

Kejriwal was earlier treated at the institute when he came with noted social activist Anna Hazare in February 2012. He then had high blood sugar level but no cough.

“Kejriwal stayed with us for 16 days and followed our nature cure regime, diet and treatment instructions meticulously. On discharge, his sugar level was within normal limits without medication,” Nandakumar recalled.

During the last three years, due to pre-occupation with social and political activities and punishing schedules, Kejriwal could not maintain the lifestyle changes he had learnt at the institute.

Preliminary tests on March 5-6 showed that Kejriwal’s faulty and stressful lifestyle, including consumption of aerated drinks, irregular eating habits, high level of pollution in Delhi and accumulation of toxins in his body had resulted in chronic cough and high blood sugar.

“We gave detoxifying treatment in the form of yogic therapy and diet comprising vegetable and fresh juices, sprouts, ayurvedic liquids, soup, boiled vegetables and chapathis to rejuvenate his entire system,” the director added.

The institute has advised Kejriwal dietary changes and daily practice of prescribed yogasana, pranayama and kriya — a form of breathing technique to cleanse the inner body — when he returns to Delhi.

(Agencies)

Anjali Damania quits AAP; accuses Arvind Kejriwal of horse-trading

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Anjali_Damania

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party suffered a big setback on Wednesday when its face in Maharashtra, Anjali Damania, quit the party and alleged that Arvind Kejriwal had indulged in horse-trading.

Damania tweeted: “I quit, I have not come into AAP for this nonsense. I believed him; I backed Arvind for principles not horse-trading.”

As per reports, Damania is upset with Kejriwal after it came to the fore that he had allegedly tried to break away Congress MLAs to get the numbers to be back as Delhi CM after the Lok Sabha poll loss. The allegation is based on a taped conversation between Rajesh Garg, AAP’s ex-MLA from Rohini, and Kejriwal in July 2014.

Garg has also confirmed that he indeed had a conversation with Kejriwal in which the Delhi CM said that he wants to break away Congress MLAs.

However, Damania’s decision to quit is surprising as she has been all along known as someone who was close to Kejriwal. Damania had backed the Kejriwal camp in the ongoing tussle with Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav.

She had even accused Bhushan of wanting the party to lose the recent Delhi Assembly polls.

It is the second time that Damania has announced her resignation from the party. In June 2014, she had quit citing lack of communication within the party only to later taken a U-turn after being assured of the formation of a new state executive that would be transparent and broad-based to ensure adequate communication with party workers.

Damania had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha polls from Nagpur against Nitin Gadkari.

(Agencies)

Arvind Kejriwal undergoes naturopathy treatment in Bengaluru

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Arvind-Kejriwal-Bangalore

Bengaluru: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was today admitted to a naturopathy institute on the city outskirts for a 10-day treatment of his persistent chronic cough problem and other ailments.

The AAP leader, who landed at the airport around noon accompanied by his parents, drove straight to Jindal Nature Cure Institute on Tumkuru Road on city outskirts.

Kejriwal would undergo naturopathy regimen that would include detoxification therapy for his cough and different types of “drainage treatments”, a senior doctor said.

“He will undergo detoxification therapy, especially for his cough – different types of drainage treatments have to be given,” Dr Babina Nandakumar, Chief Medical Officer at the Institute told reporters.

She said to control his disease once he gets back home, doctors will put him on a routine so that he gets used to it.

“Once he is here for ten days, we will put him on a routine, so he gets used to this routine … so whatever he learns here, he should try to inculcate (it) after getting back home if he really wants to control his disease,” the CMO said.

Nandakumar said Kejriwal needs to be examined in order to know his ailment. “We have to examine him completely, and then whatever investigations have to be done that also has to be done. Only then, can I come to a conclusion what is he actually suffering from,” she said.

“Last time when he came, he did not have any chronic cough problem. He had come for diabetes,” she added.

About the treatment, Babina said, “Naturopathy is a drugless form of medicine where it does not apply any kind of medicine. We believe that naturopathy is that accumulation of toxins is the root cause of the diseases.”

“So, once a patient comes over here, we detoxify the system. Once the toxins are eliminated from their system, the whole organs get rejuvenated and function in an efficient way,” she added.

Kejriwal was at the same Institute in 2012 spending 10 days for treatment of diabetes, along with anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare with complaints of high blood pressure.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also asked Kejriwal to consult a yoga therapist at a well known institute in Bengaluru for his persistent cough during the Delhi Police’s ‘At Home’ function in New Delhi a couple of weeks ago.

Facing internal turmoil in AAP, Kejriwal had yesterday skipped a meeting at Delhi where members of the party national executive voted to remove founder members, Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan, from the Political Affairs Committee, the party’s key decision making body.

(PTI)

Yogendra Yadav, Prashant Bhushan out of AAP's PAC; Kejriwal's resignation rejected

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Yogendra-Yadav-Prashant-Bhushan

New Delhi: Senior AAP leaders Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav, who were on a collision course with party Convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, were today voted out of Political Affairs Committee of the party, which has been rocked by dissidence in recent days.

In a show-down in the party’s 21-member National Executive (NE), supporters of Kejriwal voted out Yadav and Bhushan by 11 to eight votes. Kejriwal and Mayank Gandhi were not present at the meet.

Yadav and Bhushan’s ouster from PAC came days after the duo had raised red flag against continuation of Kejriwal as National Convener as also questioned his working style, evoking a sharp reaction from Kejriwal supporters who accused Bhushan and his father Shanti Bhushan of wanting to have a “vice-like grip” on all party wings, from PAC to policy committee to NE.

The two leaders left the stormy session after the decision of the Executive. While Yadav maintained that he would continue working as dedicated worker of the party, Bhushan left saying that a majority decision will prevail.

Later announcing the decisions of NE, AAP leader Kumar Vishwas said Yadav and Bhushan will be given new roles.

“The party has decided to relieve them from the responsibility as members of the PAC. They will be assigned new role and responsibility,” Vishwas said.

He said “personal opinions and personal differences” will not come in the way of the unity of the party, which will deliver on its promises and will not betray the trust of the people.

Ahead of the meet, while Yadav had offered an olive branch to the party’s top brass saying the question of Kejriwal staying as National Convener has never been an issue while Bhushan had said that he was “firm on ethics”.

Both leaders have, in the past few days, had alleged that the three-year-old party has strayed from the core ideals of ‘swaraj’ (self-governance) and transparency that set it apart.

Speaking to reporters after his removal, Yadav said, the party was created with “blood and sweat” of thousands of supporters whose trust should not be betrayed.

(Agencies)

Arvind Kejriwal offers to quit as AAP's national convenor

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Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has offered to quit as the national convenor of the AAP which he led to power in the capital barely a month ago, party sources said Wednesday.

Kejriwal’s offer comes on a day when the party’s top leadership meets amid internal squabbling.

Aam Aadmi Party leader Yogendra Yadav, one of the two leaders in the eye of the storm, however said Wednesday that he would “neither split nor quit” the party.

The differences in the party leadership have come out in the open barely a month after it made a sensational electoral comeback, sweeping 67 of the 70 seats in the Delhi assembly.

There were conflicting versions to Kejriwal’s offer to quit.

In one, Kejriwal apparently wrote a letter on February 27 to party secretary Pankaj Gupta saying he wants to quit as the AAP convenor.

In the other, Kejriwal sent a handwritten note Tuesday night saying he wants to resign from the post.

AAP leader Ashutosh said he was not aware of any other note except that of February 27.

Kejriwal, who leaves on Wednesday for Bengaluru for 10 days of naturopathy treatment to check his high sugar level, said on Tuesday that he was “deeply hurt and pained” by the wrangling within the party.

AAP sources have said the majority in the 21-member National Executive, which meets on Wednesday, favoured ousting Prashant Bhushan, a leading Supreme Court lawyer and an AAP founder, and political pundit Yadav from the nine-member, decision-making Political Affairs Committee (PAC).

Yogendra Yadav on Wednesday said: “…whatever seems to be a problem is actually an opportunity to move ahead”.

He told reporters in Hindi: “Na todenge, na chodenge. Sudherenge aur sudharenge.” (We will neither split AAP nor leave it. We will change ourselves and help change others too).”

He said that AAP was a small party and there was a lot to be learnt by everyone.

Yadav said that for the past three days there had been many messages from party volunteers on the social media asking them to stay united.

“I am sure that in the evening we will be able to tell you that we have moved a step forward and not backward.”

He refused to comment on Kejriwal’s offer to quit as party convenor.

(IANS)

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