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Arvind Kejriwal sworn-in as Delhi's CM, 6 cabinet ministers take oath too

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Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi: Exactly a year after he resigned and went into near oblivion, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal took oath as Delhi’s chief minister again on Saturday at the Ramlila Maidan as tens of thousands of cheering supporters watched.

Others who took oath as ministers in Kejriwal’s cabinet were Manish Sisodia, Asim Ahmed Khan, Sandeep Kumar, Satyendra Jain, Gopal Rai and Jitendra Tomar.

Kejriwal will hold the portfolios of home, power and finance in the Delhi government.

The 46-year-old former civil servant’s AAP won all but three of the 70 seats in assembly election after pledges to tackle entrenched corruption and lower utility bills won over legions of working-class voters willing to give him another chance.

His first term as chief minister lasted just 49 days and ended in chaos a year ago, sparking accusations he was fleeing the tough job of administration.

A view of the crowd at Ramlila Maidan. Photo: Sandeep Saxena

Kejriwal’s confidant Manish Sisodia, the deputy chief minister in the new government, will be allotted the departments of urban development, public works and education.

Satyendra Jain, who was the health minister in the AAP’s earlier 49-day innings, will head the same ministry.

Gopal Rai, one of the four new faces in the seven-member ministry, will be the transport minister. He will also have charge of the labour department.

Sandeep Kumar will be the minister for women and child development. Jitender Tomar will be the new law minister. And Asim Ahmed Khan will be food and civil supplies minister.

The Ramlila ground, in the heart of Delhi, was spruced up thoroughly for Kejriwal, 46, and his ministers to take the oath of office and secrecy. Around 30,000 chairs were placed in neat columns almost till the end of the ground, which often hosts major political rallies.

Kejriwal travelled to the swearing-in ceremony by car and invited the whole city to attend, using radio announcements and social media.

Tens of thousands packed the sprawling Ramlila Maidan Kejriwal took oath.

Cheering AAP supporters started flocking to the ground in the heart of the capital right from the morning, and excitement ran high whenever a prominent party leader was spotted.

While most AAP activists and supporters were from Delhi, large numbers also came from other states, particularly neighbouring Haryana.

Thousands of police and paramilitary personnel deployed at the venue, which had a fresh look, had a tough time as the crowds began to swell just after 9am.

Many in the gathering waved the Indian tricolour and others the AAP flag. Many held large photographs of Kejriwal, who led the AAP to a thumping win in the Delhi assembly election, sweeping 67 of the 70 seats.

While the victory is yet to sink in and celebrations will continue days after the swearing-in ceremony, the AAP needs to keep a tab on what lies ahead, how it will tackle the issues it raised and fulfill promises it made in its election campaign.

After the huge mandate that the AAP got, it will have to go much beyond merely reducing power bills and providing free water or legislating its pet jan lokpal and swaraj bills. It will have to fulfill its long list of promises before people who catapulted it to the grand success become impatient.

The AAP’s earlier innings was marred by sit-ins, conflicts with public utilities and a power struggle with the Centre. This time Kejriwal and his team will have to negotiate their way around with a BJP-led government at the Centre over issues that became a source of tussle with the previous UPA government during AAP’s brief 49-day stint last year.

Full statehood for Delhi and state control of police have been among the AAP’s key demands, with protests by Kejriwal on the issue shutting down roads in the heart of the Capital during his previous term as chief minister.

Kejriwal seems to have started well by taking up the issue of statehood to Delhi with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as Union home minister Rajnath Singh and urban development minister Venkaiah Naidu.

He, along with senior party leader Manish Sisodia, met with PM Modi who assured them that the Centre will think on the issue of giving full statehood to Delhi.

Speaking to Singh, Kejriwal underlined the need for “constructive cooperation” between the Centre and the Delhi government and noted that political differences should not come in the way of taking the city forward.

Kejriwal’s government may also have to confront the Centre over the jurisdiction of the proposed jan lokpal and the city’s anti-corruption branch.

The AAP had tried to enact the jan lokpal bill and breathe life into the moribund anti-corruption wing during its brief stint last year. The face-off with the Centre after that led to Kejriwal quitting after just 49 days in power.

One of the early decisions of the Modi government in July last year was to strip Delhi’s anti-corruption branch – which reports to the chief minister – of its power to probe central agencies such as the Delhi Police, Delhi Development Authority and the municipal corporations, considered the hotbed of corruption.

The AAP had reacted strongly, accusing the Centre of making “a complete mockery of the anti-corruption mechanism in Delhi”.

This time as well the Capital is set to witness a tug-of-war with the Centre likely to insist on similarly truncated powers for the jan lokpal.

For a party born after the 2012 anti-corruption movement, there is no way Kejriwal will let the Centre’s decision go unchallenged, said an AAP leader.

He, however, added that the tone of confrontation would be different this time.

“We have the numbers and time on our side,” he said, adding that the party would use its “moral and political authority” to push for full statehood for the Capital.

The AAP’s victory comes at a time when Delhi’s neighbouring states are being governed by other parties and it will have to maintain cordial ties with them. Uttarakhand has a Congress government, Haryana has a BJP government and Uttar Pradesh has a Samajwadi Party government.

The recent statement by Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar that his water-deficit state alone should not be banked upon for meeting the water needs of Delhi is a pointer to a possible build-up of tension between the two state governments.

Then there are other issues which affect the common man and woman on a daily basis and the AAP has promised once again to provide free water, halve power bills and enforce a measure of discipline and restraint on Delhi Police.

The first thing the AAP plans to take up is cutting electricity costs and ordering an audit of power companies and will have to look for permanent solutions without shifting blame.

The party is committed to building 20 new colleges, 2 lakh public toilets and 47 fast-track courts, besides promising bus marshals, 5,000 new buses, 8 lakh jobs, 30,000 beds in hospitals, and free WiFi across the city. The two poll promises that the party intends to attend to on priority are women’s security and free WiFi.

Kejriwal’s second term needs to be more about governance and ensure that AAP will deliver on its promises made to the people of Delhi.

(Agencies)

'Supari journalism': When Arvind Kejriwal defeated the Indian media

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In the run-up to polls,the AAP leader faced hostility from the TV channels, or was totally ignored by them.

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal flanked by his wife, Sunita, addresses supporters at the party office in New Delhi.

by Rajdeep Sardesai

In the 2015 Delhi elections, Arvind Kejriwal didn’t just demolish his opposition: he also defeated the media. That might seem a strange thing to say since the general impression for a long time has been that Kejriwal and his AAP party are a creation of the media, and television news in particular. The fact is, February 2015 is not December 2013. Then, we couldn’t get enough of Kejriwal:  he was popping in and out of TV studios and every move, every soundbite, was tracked with relentless energy.

“Would you do it with any other chief minister?” I recall Narendra Modi asking me once in a phone conversation. His concern was not unjustified. The so-called national television media essentially operates out of a small corner of Noida. So much easier to have OB vans parked outside Kejriwal’s residence in the vicinity than, let’s say, in distant Panaji. “I am also an aam admi chief minister, Manohar Parikkar told me in 2013, “but you won’t highlight that I also live a simple life because I am not in Delhi.” I have no doubt that Manik Sarkar living in distant Agartala would have had a similar grouse.

Yes, Kejriwal received disproportionate coverage in the build up to the 2013 elections. He was the new start-up, there was a buzz and excitement around him. He also had an astute media strategy and understood prime time television (his party has an unusually high proportion of journalists too in its ranks!) And then, there was the ill-fated dharna in January 2014 and suddenly the bubble was burst. “Anarchist” Kejriwal became the most common epithet we used to describe the man and AAP now became bad news.

Modi mania peaks

This was also around the time that Modi mania was beginning to peak. Television news couldn’t have enough of the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate in the run up to the 2014 general elections: every speech of his was covered live, often two and three a day. A Centre for Media Studies survey suggested that in this key election period around 70% of air time was hogged by Modi. The others, including Kejriwal and Rahul Gandhi, languished in single digits. The same media which had cheered the rise of Kejriwal towards the end of 2013 was now cheerleading the Bharatiya Janata Party’s mascot in his unstoppable ascent to 7 Race Course road.

But in the run-up to the 2015 elections, there was another twist. A large section of the media actually turned either openly hostile, or else totally ignored Kejriwal. The AAP leader began his comeback bid in October 2014 in near-anonymity: his initial Delhi dialogue had no live coverage, didn’t make Page One headlines. As he travelled across Delhi’s constituencies, there was no large media entourage tracking him. None of his speeches or press conferences got live coverage. Most were barely mentioned. Some channels took the extreme step of blanking him and his party out of their channels: AAP leaders were not to be called for studio discussions. This was “supari” journalism at its worst. By contrast, when Modi entered the Delhi campaign fray with a rally at Ram Lila maidan in January, most channels devoted 24 x 7 coverage to the event.

Fresh wind

Modi was clearly still box office; Kejriwal was not. It changed a little bit in the last fortnight of the campaign as we began to sniff the changing air. The political hawa was changing and, typically, the media was beginning to feel the shifting mood. Suddenly, Kejriwal interviews were back on prime time and on the front page. And yet, the fact is, right till the end of the campaign, every prime minister rally was live but no Kejriwal speech was given similar prominence. Most exit pollsters were cautious in predicting a Kejriwal win. Some fly by night operators even suggested that the BJP was level pegging and in some cases even in the lead (I do hope these truly “bazaroo” pollsters are held accountable).

In the end, none of it mattered. AAP won an astounding 67 of 70 seats, one of the biggest victories in the history of Indian elections. The mainstream media’s ambivalence to Kejriwal didn’t matter. The AAP leader had gone over our heads, effectively used social media, but most importantly, gone directly to those who really mattered: the voter! Pompous editors, noisy anchors and a corporatised media ownership had all been defeated. In a democracy, we in the media are only the surround sound: the actual power in the end rests with the real aam admi. As they would tell you on the streets of Delhi, Janata janardhan!

This article first appeared on Rajdeep Sardesai’s website.

AAP govt to pursue corruption charges against Sheila Dikshit, Mukesh Ambani

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File Photo

File Photo

New Delhi: Delhi’s AAP government to be sworn in today will pursue allegations of corruption against ex-Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and industrialist Mukesh Ambani and others, Deputy Chief Minister-designate Manish Sisodia said today.

All the cases that were registered last year during Kejriwal government’s 49-day stint “will be pursued”, he told PTI in an exclusive interview here.

Sisodia, who had been asked whether the FIRs lodged by the AAP government last year against Mukesh Ambani, the then Petroleum Minister M Veerappa Moily as also allegations against Dikshit would be pursued, responded “yes, definitely”.

The then Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had ordered filing of an FIR on February 11 last year against Moily, his predecessor Murli Deora, who is dead now, and RIL Chief Mukesh Ambani for alleged collusion in hike of prices in natural gas from the KG basin.

The then AAP government had also ordered a probe into street light purchase scam during the Commonwealth Games of 2010 in which Dikshit’s role had come under the scanner.

Sisodia said the AAP government will “revive” the cases that have been put in cold storage and take them to a “logical conclusion”. On its key poll promise of slashing power tariff by 50 per cent, Sisodia said it would be done “as soon as possible”.

Alleging wide-spread corruption in the power sector, Sisodia said the new government would force the power distribution companies to give all their financial details to the CAG that is probing their accounts.

The CAG audit into the finances of the private power distribution companies was ordered by the Kejriwal government last year.

In its manifesto, AAP had promised to cut power tariff by 50 per cent immediately after coming to power and said the rates will be revised based on the findings of the CAG audit.

“CAG audit into the discoms is already going on. We will force them to give all the details to the CAG,” Sisodia said.

Sisodia said the AAP government will also soon announce 20 kilolitres (20,000 litres) of free water to every household per month as per its promise. The previous AAP government had introduced the free water scheme but it was discontinued after it quit.

“We will bring back the free water scheme which was discontinued after we quit the government as water is basic right,” he said.

Asked how the new AAP government will tackle the ‘VIP culture’ of ‘lal battis’, he said “all the Ministers will ride ordinary cars”.

“Not even the Chief Minister will use red-beacon or hooters on his official car. The AAP government will be a government of simplicity. The Ministers may avail government accomodation but not huge bungalows. They will take normal salary and will not travel with huge security contingents,” he said.

On the statehood issue, Sisodia said the AAP government will soon approach the Centre with a “concrete proposal” in this regard and noted that both Congress and BJP had promised to grant Delhi full-statehood.

Insisting that police must be brought under the Delhi government, he said said the Centre can continue to handle security for Lutyens’ Delhi.

“Lutyens’ Bungalow Zone can continue to stay under the Centre. But is it possible for the Prime Minister or Home Minister to take care of law and order in places like East Delhi. Police must come under the Delhi government,” Sisodia said.

Asked whether the issue was raised with Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he and Kejriwal met him yesterday, Sisodia said it was not a meeting to discuss the issue threadbare.

“I am sure we will soon have concrete discussion on it. Yesterday, we briefly discussed and the Prime Minister said ‘let us see what can be done’,” he said.

The BJP in its manifesto for 2013 assembly polls had promised full statehood for Delhi. The party had come out with a vision document for the February 7 assembly polls which did not find any mention of the statehood issue.

In its manifesto, AAP had promised to push for full statehood for Delhi if it came to power.

Sisodia said the AAP government would want a “constructive relationship” with the Centre.

“We will expect constructive relationship with them. We welcome competitive politics for the development of Delhi,” he said.

Asked about criticism against Kejriwal by Shanti Bhushan, he said “being critical is not a big thing and individuals are not important”.

On whether AAP will contest the Bihar assembly polls, he said the party’s Political Affairs Committee will take a call on the issue.

(PTI)

AAP to appoint AIIMS whistleblower Sanjiv Chaturvedi as Delhi anti-corruption chief

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Sanjiv Chaturvedi to head Delhi's anti corruption bureau

Sanjiv Chaturvedi to head Delhi’s anti corruption bureau

New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) plans to appoint as Delhi’s top anti-corruption officer a man who was recently shunted out by the central government. Sanjiv Chaturvedi, who was removed as vigilance chief of AIIMS hospital, will head the Delhi anti-corruption bureau.

Chaturvedi, an Indian Forest Service officer who had uncovered several scams while posted in Haryana, was removed from the post of Chief Vigilance Officer at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in August last year. His sacking led to a huge protest by AAP which accused the Modi government of removing him at the behest of some BJP leaders.

Chaturvedi’s removal had also drawn parallels with the repeated transfers of IAS officer Ashok Khemka, who had exposed a series of corruption cases in Haryana.

The AAP Cabinet, which will be sworn-in on Saturday at the Ramlila Maidan, is expected to make the decision next week.

(Agencies)

Christian school in Vasant Vihar vandalised, Kejriwal vows tough action

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Policemen stand guard outside the Holy Child Auxilium School in New Delhi on Friday. Photo: Sandeep Saxena, The Hindu

Policemen stand guard outside the Holy Child Auxilium School in New Delhi on Friday. Photo: Sandeep Saxena, The Hindu

New Delhi: In yet another incident which raises concerns over safety of institutions linked to the minorities, a Christian school located in south Delhi’s Vasant Vihar was vandalised by some unknown persons late on Thursday.

According to reports, the window of the Holy Child Auxilium School principal’s room was broken and the CCTV cameras installed there were also damaged by some unidentified persons.

The police, which is now probing the matter, has claimed that it may be a case of theft.

Delhi CM-designate and AAP leader Arvind Kjeriwal has strongly condemned the incident and said that such acts won’t be tolerated.

Meanwhile, Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani, who studied in this school, is also expected to visit the school shortly.

In view of the incident, all classes were cancelled today and the security has been tightened.

“Certain people came at night, broke the CCTV camera, went into the principal’s room and vandalised it,” Father Dominic Emmanuel, spokesperson of the Delhi Archdiocese, was quoted as saying.

He further alleged that the incident is in line with a series of attacks on churches in Delhi.

After massive protests by Christian groups, Home Minister Rajnath Singh tightened security around churches and other religious institutions.

(Agencies)

Modi won't be able to attend Kejriwal's swearing-in ceremony

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AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal meets Prime Minister Narendra Modi at 7 RCR. Photo: PMO Twitter account

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal meets Prime Minister Narendra Modi at 7 RCR. Photo: PMO Twitter account

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not be able to attend Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor and Delhi chief minister-designate Arvind Kejriwal’s oath taking ceremony on Saturday, party leader Manish Sisodia said on Thursday after a meeting with the PM.

The meeting which took place at the Prime Minister’s 7 Race Course Road residence lasted half an hour and was described as cordial.

“Unfortunately PM Modi will not be able to attend Arvind ji’s oath taking ceremony,” Sisodia, who accompanied Kejriwal, told reporters after the meeting with Modi.

Kejriwal extended an invitation to Modi for the ceremony but the PM is scheduled to travel to Maharashtra to inaugurate the new Krishi Vigyan Kendra building in Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar’s stronghold of Baramati on Saturday.

“We had a good talk with the PM and told him there is a full majority government at the Centre and in Delhi and this is a golden opportunity. It is an opportune time to grant full statehood to Delhi,” said Sisodia.

He said the PM assured them that the Centre will think on the issue of giving full statehood to Delhi.

Kejriwal’s meeting with the PM comes a day after he met Union home minister Rajnath Singh and urban affairs minister Venkaiah Naidu and sought full statehood for Delhi.

Speaking to home minister Singh, Kejriwal also underlined the need for “constructive cooperation” between the central and the Delhi governments and noted that political differences should not come in the way of taking the city forward.

Kejriwal will also invite his one-time colleague and former IPS officer Kiran Bedi, who was the BJP’s CM candidate in the Delhi polls. Bedi too had congratulated Kejriwal asking him to make Delhi a world-class city.

The AAP won 67 seats in the 70-member Delhi House on Tuesday, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) managed a distant second place with merely three seats. The Congress, reeling from a string of defeats since it was routed in the Lok Sabha polls, did not even open its account.

In the run-up to the Delhi polls, the battle for the city-state saw a fierce war of words between the PM, and Kejriwal, who lost to Modi in Varanasi in the April-May general elections.

But, Modi congratulated Kejriwal after the AAP’s poll triumph and promised him Centre’s co-operation in the development of Delhi.

(Agencies)

Manish Sisodia to be Deputy CM of Delhi

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AAP leader Manish Sisodia. Photo: IE

AAP leader Manish Sisodia. Photo: IE

New Delhi: Senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia, a close confidant of party chief Arvind Kejriwal, is all set to be the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi.

The decision to make Sisodia the Deputy CM was taken at a meeting of AAP’s Political Affairs Committee (PAC) last night at Kejriwal’s residence in Kaushambhi, party sources said.

Sisodia is being given the responsibility so that Chief Minister-designate Kejriwal can focus on building the party at the national level, they said.

Sisodia is credited with strengthening AAP at the grassroot level after it lost all the seven parliamentary constituencies in the Lok Sabha elections last year.

He was minister of Education, PWD, Urban Development and Local Bodies in the 49-day AAP government that had resigned on February 14 last year on the Lokpal issue.

Kejriwal, Sisodia and other cabinet ministers will take oath of office at Ramlila ground on Saturday.

Sisodia had won from Patparganj constituency defeating BJP’s Vinod Kumar Binny who was expelled from the party last year.

He had worked as a journalist with Zee News and All India Radio for a long time. He later quit journalism to participate in the agitation for Right To Information.

He was one of the founding members of the Janlokpal agitation and part of the team which chalked out its first draft. When Anna Hazare was arrested and sent to jail during the agitation, he too was sent to prison.

(PTI)

Kejriwal discusses Delhi's statehood with Rajnath; AAP receives IT notice

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Delhi CM designate Arvind Kejriwal meets Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

Delhi CM designate Arvind Kejriwal meets Home Minister Rajnath Singh. Photo: ANI

New Delhi: A day after registering a landslide victory in the Delhi assembly election, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal Wednesday discussed the issue of full statehood for Delhi with Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

Kejriwal, accompanied by party leader Manish Sisodia, had about an half-hour meeting with the home minister at the latter’s official residence.

“We have discussed various issues with the home minister, including the issue of full statehood for Delhi,” Sisodia told reporters.

He also said that the union minister assured them of the central government’s full support, saying that “the party line would not come in between working of the two governments”.

Earlier in the day, the AAP leaders called on union urban development minister Venkaiah Naidu at his office and discussed various issues concerning the national capital.

During this meeting, the issues related to granting of full statehood to Delhi and granting land by Delhi Development Authority (DDA) for building schools, parking and play grounds were discussed.

The AAP leaders also spoke about regularisation of unauthorised colonies in the city.

Kejriwal, to be sworn in as chief minister Saturday at the Ramlila Ground for the second time, is scheduled to meet President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan later Wednesday.

Aam Aadmi Party, Congress served IT notice over funding

The Income Tax Department has served a notice on Aam Aadmi Party seeking an explanation on charges of receiving funds from dubious sources as alleged by a splinter group — a charge that had already been denied by the party.

A similar notice has also been served on the Congress, a party spokesperson said.

The department, that functions under the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) of the ministry of finance, has asked the party to furnish its reply by Feb 16 — two days after Arvind Kejriwal is scheduled to take oath as Delhi chief minister following a stunning win in the assembly polls.

In the run-up to the elections, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had alleged that the AAP was caught red-handed in receiving dubious funds from companies that did not have any business, and accused its leadership of adopting diversionary tactics to deflect attention.

He said such donations amounted to Rs.2 crore through cheques of Rs.50 lakh each from four firms.

The Aam Aadmi Party had protested such allegations. “Mr. Finance Minister. Stop throwing muck. Act. Arrest me if i am guilty,” Kejriwal tweeted. “Fin min (finance minister) says we took hawala money. Hawala money in cheques? I dare Fin min to arrest me if we took hawala money.”

He had also written to Chief Justice of India H.L. Dattu and urged him to set up a special probe team to probe investigate not just his party, but also the BJP and the Congress for the Delhi elections.

The Congress party said it has also received a similar missive from the IT Department.

“Yes, we have been served a notice. It is clearly a sign of political vendetta. Let me ask: Why has a similar notice not been served on BJP? Why single us and the AAP out. BJP has also spent crores of rupees on elections,” a party spokesperson told IANS.

At a press conference here last week, the AAP Volunteer Action Manch (AVAM), a breakaway group of the party, had questioned the sources of funding for the Kejriwal-led party and alleged some of it could be sourced to what it described as “fraud” companies.

It said claimed the money donated on the midnight of April 15 last year.

(IANS)

AAP win shattered myth of Modi's invincibility: Yogendra Yadav

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AAP supporters holding posters of Arvind Kejriwal after party's victory in Delhi Assembly polls on 10 Feb 2015.

AAP supporters holding posters of Arvind Kejriwal after party’s victory in Delhi Assembly polls on 10 Feb 2015.

New Delhi: AAP ideologue Yogendra Yadav said the party’s landslide win has shattered the “myth of invincibility” around Prime Minister Narendra Modi and opened up “political possibilities”.

Speaking to NDTV news channel after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won 67 of the 70 seats, Yadav said Modi had turned the Delhi assembly election into a “referendum (on his government) and said the whole world is watching”.

“He launched a personal attack on Arvind Kejriwal and now he cannot simply walk away and say it is a minor election,” he said.

“Can’t say if his (Modi’s) popularity has waned, but the myth of invincibility has suddenly been shattered. The idea of a juggernaut that would roll on and on and on has been halted, temporarily, and opened up political possibilities,” he said.

By political possibilities, Yadav said, “the complete sense of invincibility (around Modi) has been removed. Now I suspect that BJP leaders would be able to say a few things to the BJP, and the kind of pressure on the media would be relaxed a bit”.

“I always believe that the way to take on Modi is not to take on the old tried and tested political formula,” he added.

Asked about the AAP government having virtually no opposition in the assembly, he acknowledged that there was the “danger of hubris” (excessive pride or self-confidence).

He said the massive mandate has placed a “serious responsibility on the party. The people of Delhi have thrust a double responsibility on us. It is more than what we had dreamt. The people will expect more of us – to deliver on promises”.

Stating that the huge mandate was “scary”, he said it would give the AAP government the “responsibility of listening to voices of dissent, especially of the 32 percent who voted for the BJP and the others, and the responsibility of proving to be the carrier of an alternative politics”.

(IANS)

"We killed Mahatma Gandhi; will kill Arvind Kejriwal too": Hindu Mahasabha leader

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swami-omji

New Delhi: A video has appeared online in which a Hindu Mahasabha leader one Swami Omji has threatened to shoot Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal.

“We killed Mahatma Gandhi… we will shoot down Kejriwal too,” said Swami Omji, a leader of Hindu Mahasabha and strong supporter of Narendra Modi.

Omji, who contested as an Independent candidate in the Delhi assembly elections from Palika Bazaar constituency, had openly supported BJP candidate and claimed that his intention behind contesting the election was to divide AAP and Congress votes.

Speaking to media persons before the announcement of poll results the fanatic leader with ith the attire of a ‘Sadhu’ said: “I am from Hindu Mahasabha but BJP is my party. I am also global president of Om Saiji Party. Since Asaram and Narayan Sai are in jail, the responsibility fell on my shoulders.”

Calling Kejriwal, an anti-national and traitor, the Hinduva leader also claimed that he had once barged into the house of Kejriwal and thrashed him. “…On 21st January 2014, I entered Kejriwal’s house and thrashed him.”

He went on to claim that Hindu Mahasabha had killed Mahatma Gandhi. “…Nathuram Godse was our man. We killed Mahatma Gandhi… Will kill Kejriwal too,” he said.

When a shocked reporter questioned him what did he say, Swami Omji replied: “In the future, we will try to convince anti-nationals like Kejriwal. If he doesn’t listen, we will shoot him and kill him.”

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