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Through AAP, Delhi’s vast underclass speaks up

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Economic indicators reveal Delhi’s vast and growing inequalities, especially on parameters that the AAP frequently highlights: water, electricity, jobs and living conditions.

AAP

by Devanik Saha, IndiaSpend.com

Delhi’s people are India’s richest. They use the best, most extensive network of roads, and they have one of the highest rates of vehicle ownership in India. The number of companies serving and investing in their economy is growing.

On the face of it, Delhi, the world’s second-most populous city, is one of India’s booming economies. Its 25 million people—according to the United Nations’ department of economic and social affairs, which counts suburbs in other states; the 2011 Census records 16.8 million—are India’s most pampered.

Delhi (82% Hindus, 11.7% Muslim) is an aspirational, hard-working city, built on the collective commercial ethos of Punjabi refugees who streamed in after Independence.

In other words, it appears to be fertile electoral territory for Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which he has re-crafted to represent Indian aspirations for a better life.

So, why is the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)—as the latest opinion polls indicate—set to either defeat the BJP or run it close?

First, a quick glance at some of Delhi’s positive economic indicators:

  1. Dilliwallas have more money than other Indians

Source: Press Information Bureau

  1. Delhi has India’s highest density of roads per 1000 sq km

Source: Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation

  1. Dilliwallas are among India’s top three vehicle owners (topped only by Goa and Chandigarh)

Source: Data.gov.in

  1. Companies are flocking to Delhi and their investments are rising

Source: Delhi Statistical Abstract

  1. Delhiites are among India’s most educated people

Source: Census 2011

The underclass finds a political voice

But Delhi also has a vast, striving and frustrated underclass, which now appears to be firmly in the AAP camp.

This report explained how 10.2 million people (60% of the population) earn less than Rs 13,500 per month.

A further examination of economic indicators by IndiaSpend reveals Delhi’s vast and growing inequalities, especially on parameters that the AAP frequently highlights: water, electricity, jobs and living conditions.

Here is what our analysis reveals:

Water: Providing 700 litres of free water to every household is one of AAP’s pet promises. There is a wide disparity in water-supply across income groups, the data reveal. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report, released in April 2013, stated that 24.8% of Delhi’s households (around 32.5 lakh people) do not receive piped water. Each person gets, on average, 3.82 litres a day, 36 litres less than the minimum 40 suggested by the World Health Organisation.

Electricity: High electricity prices, a favourite AAP topic, are a major concern for many Dilliwalas. The data reveal that locally generated electricity has decreased 49%, while electricity purchased from other states has surged 51.8% over the past five years. This reportexplains how power cuts occur, in spite of distribution companies having surplus power.

Source: Delhi Statistical Abstract

Jobs: Rising unemployment is a big worry among Delhi’s underclass. Statistics reveal that the unemployment rate has increased, with female unemployment doubling over six years.

Source: Delhi Statistical Abstract

Slums: Nearly 15% of Delhi’s households officially live in slums, according to the 2011 Census. This is lower than in other cities such as Mumbai (41.3%) and Chennai (28.5%), but this figure does not include Delhi’s vast, unauthorised colonies, home to one in three Dilliwalas. Unauthorised colonies are not officially categorised as slums but suffer from their infirmities: cramped, unsanitary living, water and electricity shortages.

Source: Census 2011

Image Credit: AamAadmiParty.org

Election to be quashed if crimnal record not disclosed: SC

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Supreme Court India

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Thursday ruled that suppression or non-disclosure of information about serious crimes by a candidate at the time of filing nomination interferes with the voters’ right to make an informed choice and the election of such a candidate is liable to be set aside.

When there is non-disclosure of the offences pertaining to heinous or serious offence or offences relating to corruption or moral turpitude at the time of filing of nomination paper, it creates an impediment in the free exercise of electoral right by a voter, said a bench of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Prafulla C. Pant.

“As a candidate has the special knowledge of the pending cases against him where cognizance has been taken or charges have been framed and there is non-disclosure on his part, it would amount to undue influence. Therefore, election is to be declared null and void by the Election Tribunal under Section 100(1)(b) of the 1951 Act,” the court said.

“Concealment or suppression of this nature deprives the voters to make an informed and advised choice as a consequence of which it would come within the compartment of direct or indirect interference or attempt to interfere with the free exercise of the right to vote by the electorate, on the part of the candidate,” Justice Misra said pronouncing the judgment.

Making it clear that disclosure of criminal antecedents by a candidate was a statutory obligation, the court said: “Disclosure of criminal antecedents of a candidate, especially, pertaining to heinous or serious offence or offences relating to corruption or moral turpitude at the time of filing of nomination paper as mandated by law is a categorical imperative.”

“The question whether it materially affects the election or not would not arise in a case of this nature,” said the court as it dismissed an appeal by Krishnamurthy who was elected as the president of Thekampatti panchayat in Mettupalayam taluka of Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore Oct 13, 2006. Krishnamurthy involved in eight cases relating to embezzlement.

The validity of Krishnamurthy’s election was challenged on the ground that he had filed a false declaration suppressing the details of criminal cases pending trial against him and, therefore, his nomination deserved to be rejected by the returning officer.

The Election Tribunal after examining all the material set aside his election holding that Krishnamurthy’s nomination papers should have been rejected and he could not have contested. It also ordered re-election for the post of the president of Thekampatti panchayat.

Hearing Krishnamurthy’s appeal, the Madras High Court agreed with the ultimate conclusion of the tribunal but for a different reason.

The apex court, while dismissing the appeal by Krishnamurthy, said: “Ex consequenti, the appeal, being sans substance, stands dismissed with costs, which is assessed at Rs.50,000.”

(IANS)

Left parties announce support for AAP to keep BJP, Congress out of power in Delhi

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Communist Party of India

New Delhi: In its effort to keep BJP and Congress out of power in Delhi, Left parties on Wednesday announced their support to AAP and asked their supporters to vote in favour Arvind Kejriwal-led party on those seats from where the joint front of the Left parties has not put up candidates in Assembly polls.

“15 seats are being contested jointly by Left parties in the Delhi polls. Rest of the 55 seats, our party has decided that it will ask our party members and voters to vote for the AAP. Most of the other left parties are also of the same view,” CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat told reporters in New Delhi.

He said the line of the party was not to support Congress and BJP and especially the latter. He said his party has taken similar stands earlier as well and had even voted for BSP in Delhi in earlier elections.

The elections for the 70-member Delhi Assembly will be held on 7 February. The counting of votes will take place on 10 February and tomorrow is the last day of electioneering.

The CPI Delhi state council has also decided to extend support to AAP candidates in all those constituencies where the joint front of the left parties has not put up candidates.

“The decision in this regard is being taken after seeing the all-out offencive by the rabid communal forces led by BJP and spearheaded by divisive anti-national RSS to stoop down to unheard levels to somehow capture power.

“These pro-corporate Hindutva forces are using both money and muscle power along with slanderous campaigns and pernicious attempts even to amend nationally accepted Indian Constitution for scrapping secular, socialist contents,” a CPI statement said.

The party said the Delhi voters are also wary of the anti-people neo-liberal policies that the UPA-II had imposed on them throwing their daily life out of gear.

“Hence to ensure that the there is no hung assembly again, the party has decided to support AAP nominees to avoid a division among the anti-BJP votes,” it said.

The CPI, CPI(M), CPI(ML) Liberation, SUCI(C), Forward Bloc, RSP and Socialist Party (India) have come to a seat-sharing arrangement and will be extending support to each other on 15 seats.

CPI appealed to Delhi voters to elect the Left candidates and urged its various branches, supporters, sympathisers and workers to ensure the defeat of BJP by fully supporting AAP candidates in those constituencies where CPI and other left candidates are not in the fray.

(PTI)

38-46 seats for AAP, says India Today Group-CICERO opinion poll

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AAP

New Delhi: With three days left for the Delhi assembly elections, the TG-CICERO opinion poll projected the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) getting the highest number of seats (between 38- 46 seats) and the BJP between 19-25 seats in the 70-member house.

According to it, the Congress would get between three and seven seats while the other parties would get between zero to two seats.

It said the AAP would get over 43 percent of the votes, the BJP over 35 percent of votes, the Congress 13 percent, down by over 11 percent votes, and the others eight percent votes, a slide of nearly four percent votes.

According to the India Today Group-Cicero poll, over 44 percent respondents feel AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal is best suited to be chief minister, while 35 percent think so of BJP’s chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi and just 12 percent hold Congress’ Ajay Maken best suited for the post.

The Delhi elections are on Feb 7 and results would be out on Feb 10.

(IANS)

EVMs in Delhi tampered? Press any button, BJP light blinks alleges Kejriwal

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EVM

New Delhi: With just three days to go to the Delhi Assembly polls, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal expressed shock that Electronic Voting Machines in Delhi cantonment have been tampered.

Kejriwal alleged that yesterday during an EVM inspection in Delhi cantonment, it was found that 4 Electronic Voting Machines were tampered.

On pressing any button on the EVM, the light for the BJP party was blinking.

The AAP chief tweeted: Large scale EVM tampering? Yest, during inspection of EVMs in Del cant, in 4 machines, whatever button u pressed, light against BJP lit— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) February 3, 2015.

He, however, did not explain where the inspection of the EVMs was carried out. Official sources said that inspection of EVMs are carried out and at times public representatives are also taken along for random checking of the machines.

Narendra Tandon quits BJP, blames Kiran Bedi

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Lalji Tandon

New Delhi: Just before the Delhi Assembly elections, Kiran Bedi’s Election campaign assistant Narendra Tandon resigned from his post.

Tandon blamed Kiran Bedi for his resgination and stated that her dictating attitude had become unbearable for him.

He was upset with Bedi and thus resigned from his post.

Narendra Tandon was an executive member of Delhi BJP and former Delhi Secretary.

When approached, Kiran Bedi evaded the question over Tandon’s resignation.

(Agencies)

Delhi polls: BJP ropes in star campaigners, 70 MPs to prepare ground for Mission 60

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BJP

New Delhi: With less than two weeks to go for the Delhi polls, BJP today distributed charge of the constituencies here among as many as 58 Union ministers and MPs as it eyes a win here after a gap of 16 years.

The charge of the constituencies was allotted by the BJP’s central leadership and the leaders were tasked with looking after the party’s campaign and garnering support among the people.

Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal has been asked to look after the campaign in the Model Town constituency while Shahnawaz Hussain will bolster its efforts for the poll in the minority-dominated constituencies of Matia Mahal and Okhla.

“Today, around 58 Union ministers and MPs took charge of Delhi constituencies. More than 70 MPs have been assigned to oversee preparations for the Feb. 7 polls to the 70-member Assembly,” said a senior BJP leader.

Most of the leaders were given charge of one constituency each.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who has been asked to look after the management of Delhi BJP, today visited the state unit’s office and took the stock of poll preparations.

Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Anant Kumar, too, has been asked to look after the overall management of the party in Delhi.

Senior BJP leader and MP Kirit Somaya will oversee the party’s campaign in New Delhi constituency where Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal is one of the contestants.

Union ministers Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Mahesh Sharma have been asked to push BJP’s cause in the Babarpur and Laxmi Nagar constituencies, respectively.

(PTI)

Kejriwal continues to be the most preferred CM; AAP gets an edge over BJP: Survey

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Arvind-Kejriwal-Kiran-Bedi

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party has managed to win back supporters in New Delhi and has now taken a lead over the BJP in the Delhi Assembly polls, a pre-poll survey conducted by ABP News – Nielsen shows.

According to the survey, 50 percent of those polled were likely to vote for the Kejriwal-led party, up 4 percent from the last survey conducted by the agency in the second week of January.

In bad news for the BJP, the survey, which was conducted on 24 and 25 January to ascertain what impact Kiran Bedi’s announcement had on the electorate, showed the party’s fortunes decline by 4 percent (now down to 41 percent) in what ABP-Nielsen states is an indication that Bedi is not helping the party bring in new voters.

The BJP, according to the survey, has a higher proportion of committed voters – 84 percent – who say ‘they shall definitely vote for BJP now’ that Bedi has been announced as CM candidate.

However, in terms of its Chief Ministerial choice, Delhiites seem to still prefer Arvind Kejriwal over everyone else. The AAP leader, according to the survey, is the most suitable candidate for the position of CM with a 51 percent vote share while Kiran Bedi managed to secure 40 percent. The Congress’s Ajay Maken finished third with just 8 percent.

The survey states that the AAP’s support base is largely made up of Muslims, SC/ST/OBC and lower income groups. In terms of income groups, a majority of respondents belonging to the lower income group favoured AAP, while those with income on the higher side (Rs. 25,000 per month and above) favoured BJP. For the BJP, the Modi factor still seemed to hold some ground with several respondents saying that they will vote for the BJP because they wanted to support Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The snap poll was conducted in 70 assembly constituencies of Delhi with 2262 respondents. You can read the entire findings here. Delhi goes to polls on 7 February and the results will be declared on 1o February.

Bedi draws flak after putting scarf on Lajpat Rai statue

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BJP's Delhi CM nominee Kiran Bedi on Wednesday came under fire from Arvind Kejriwal for putting her party's scarf around a statue of freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai. (ANI photo)

BJP’s Delhi CM nominee Kiran Bedi on Wednesday came under fire from Arvind Kejriwal for putting her party’s scarf around a statue of freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai. (ANI photo)

New Delhi: The BJP’s chief ministerial candidate for Delhi Kiran Bedi on Wednesday came under fire from AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal for putting her party’s scarf around the statue of freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai in Krishna Nagar.

“I would like to request Kiran Bedi to spare our freedom fighters and not saffronise them. These leaders fought for independence for 120 crore Indians. There should be no politics over them,” said Kejriwal.

Bedi, who began her roadshow at Krishna Nagar from where she is contesting the Delhi assembly polls on February 7, paid tribute to Rai, cleaned his statue, put a garland and placed her Bharatiya Janata Party’s sash on it as well.

She also met tea and newspaper sellers in the area and enquired about the issues they were facing.

Although she removed the scarf later, Aam Aadmi Party chief Kejriwal did not let the opportunity to criticise her go by.

The garlands and flowers were also removed after Bedi left the place.

While on her way to file her nomination, Bedi led a road show through east Delhi, including the Krishna Nagar constituency, which is considered a BJP stronghold.

Kejriwal too will file his nomination papers from the New Delhi assembly constituency on Wednesday after he failed to meet the deadline for filing the nominations on Tuesday.

(With ANI inputs)

Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi file nomination

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Arvind-Kejriwal-Kiran-Bedi

New Delhi: AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi, BJP’s chief ministerial candidate in Delhi, filed their nomination from New Delhi assembly constituency for the Feb 7 polls.

Bedi reached the sub-divisional magistrate’s (SDM) office around noon. She was accompanied by senior leaders Harsh Vardhan, Vijay Goel, Maheish Girri and Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay.

Before filing her nomination, Bedi participated in a roadshow from the Lala Lajpat Rai chowk which culminated at the SDM’s office.

“I hope people will accept me and vote for the BJP,” Bedi told reporters before filing her nominations.

Aravind Kejriwal, the former Delhi chief minister, met with protests by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers as he reached the district magistrate office on Shahjahan Road at 11.20 a.m.

The BJP workers standing outside the district magistrate office shouted anti-Kejriwal and pro-Narendra Modi slogans. Then, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers also started raising anti-Modi slogans.

It took Kejriwal nearly an hour to complete the procedure.

‘It is people who have to decide who they need to vote for…In fact, they have decided that they have to vote for the AAP in full majority,’ Kejriwal said after filing his nomination papers.

‘My biggest challenges are corruption and price rise. I accept that people were angry because of our resignation earlier, but now their anger is over and they have full faith in us,’ he added.

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