BJP, Cong and JD(U) attack AAP on expulsions

"Evicting Yadav and Bhushan from PAC will further create controversy. What will happen to promises they made to people who blindly trusted such new party which called themselves different from the BJP and Congress," senior BJP leader Vijay Goel said here.

Goel also said that Aam Aadmi Party has duped the people of national capital. "When members of PAC can be evicted, you can imagine what happens to workers in the AAP. They should fulfil all their promises, putting such controversy on end," the BJP leader also said.

Congress also came down heavily on AAP, saying there is no internal democracy within the party. "Like BJP, dictatorship also prevails in Aam Aadmi Party. BJP has formed Margdarshak Mandal, but its leaders don't listen to members of this Mandal the same situation is with AAP where only some persons are listened," Congress leader Jai Parkash Aggarwal said.

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AAP to focus on illegal mining, corruption in Odisha

AAP state convenor Nishikanta Mohapatra said his party has sought feedback from the local units in order to give final shape to the manifesto.

“The mining scam and corruption are the main issues. Besides, the issues of agriculture, health, education, unemployment, law and order and Jan Lokpal will also find place," said Mohapatra, adding that his party may release its manifesto next week.

A commission, which probed illegal mining in Odisha, has exposed a scam of Rs 60,000 crore.

"This money could have been utilised, at least one crore rupees in each of the state's 52,000 villages and towns," said Mohapatra.

The elections for the 21 Lok Sabha seats and the 147-member assembly would be held simultaneously in Odisha on April 10 and 17.

AAP has so far announced candidates for 19 Lok Sabha and 112 assembly seats.

“We have a good prospect in six Lok Sabha constituencies. They are Bargarh, Kalahandi, Dhenkanal, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, and Berhampur," he said.

Although a strong anti-incumbency mood is prevailing across the state against the government led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, the opposition parties are not in a position to encash it, Mohapatra added.

Congress joined the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) recently and people do not even trust the Bharatiya Janata Party because it was the coalition partner of the BJD for 11 years, he said.

"The AAP is emerging. It is in a rocky status but if people come around, there will be a drastic change," Mohapatra said.

"People are supporting our party but how to scale up further with limited financial resources is a challenge," he added.

(Agencies)

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AAP magic waning? Shazia, Vishwas discontent over tickets distribution

Things are yet to be decided within AAP camp regarding Lok Sabha polls and several leaders have already started showing signs of discord. Poet-turned-politician Kumar Vishwas, who has been fielded against Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, is now questioning the modus operandi of the party.

Expressing chagrin over functioning of the AAP and old party workers getting marginalized, another key AAP leader and well known former journalist Shazia Ilmi also joined the Vishwas bandwagon. Shazia is said to be upset with Kejriwal for not awarding her ticket for fighting Lok Sabha polls from Delhi.

Meanwhile, Kejriwal, maintaining a tough stand, has drawn a parallel between the rebels and his latest pot-shots taken at Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.

More skeletons emerged out of closet on Tuesday after Kumar Vishwas expressed his annoyance over distribution tickets for Lok Sabha polls. Pouring out his ‘displeasure, Kumar wrote on micro-blogging website Twitter – “If dirty waters make its way into a river, even those holding reverence towards it will have apprehensions before taking holy dip.”

According to sources, Kumar Vishwas tried to speak to party leader Sanjay Singh and Kejriwal regarding distribution of party tickets several times but his views were not given any importance. 

The AAP could face fire over selection of candidates and Kejriwal may find it difficult to come up with any convincing explanation this time.

Shazia Ilmi, who wishes to contest Lok Sabha polls from the national capital, is disappointed for not getting ticket. Such has been the extent of her discontentment that she even refused to contest against Congress president Sonia Gandhi from Rae Bareilly. However, Shazia in a tweet said that she never wished to contest from Delhi.

Amid all these developments, Kejriwal has been quite hard-nosed over his stand and he is determined not to give in before Shazia or Kumar Vishwas. In this very context, Kejriwal wrote on Twitter, “Ever since I trained my guns on Narendra Modi, things started unfolding in a very interesting manner. Several relationships are donning new meanings but truth will triumph.”

Sources close to Kejriwal believes that the ex-Delhi chief minister will not compromise a bit on his stand.

JPN/Bureau

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LS polls: AAP to field candidates against A Raja, Dayanidhi Maran

"Definitely, we will field candidates against leaders who are dipped in scams. We will field candidates against A Raja in Nilgiris and Dayanidhi Maran in Central Chennai," AAP's Tamil Nadu convenor David Barunkumar told reporters in Chennai.

   

He said that the first list of candidates and constituencies would be released later this week. "We hope the first list of candidates will be announced by this Sunday or Monday", he said.

    

On whether anti-nuclear activist SP Udhayakumar, who has joined the AAP, would contest the polls in the wake of several cases filed against him, David said, "We will support Udhayakumar. Even if he is arrested, he will file his nominations from jail and contest the elections.”

    

On being asked whether AAP would try to forge a partnership with the Left parties in Tamil Nadu in the wake of their snapping ties with ruling AIADMK, he alleged that they were ‘not living upto the principles of communist parties’.

   

The meet also saw journalist Vaseegaran joining AAP in the presence of state office bearers of the party.

(Agencies)

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Delhi HC stays AAP Cabinet’s waiver on power bills

A bench of Acting Chief Justice BD Ahmed and Justice Siddharth Mridul issued notice to the standing counsel of the Delhi government and issued directions to file an affidavit stating its ‘current stand’ before the next date of hearing on March 18.

   

"Notice to respondent 1 (Delhi government). Respondent 1 to file counter affidavit indicating its current stand within 10 days. Meanwhile, there will be stay on decision of February 12, 2014 of Cabinet of National Capital Territory of Delhi," the bench said.

   

The High Court, which passed the order after going through the affidavit filed by the government as per the bench's February 19 order, expressed its unhappiness over the contents.

"This is no stand. This is the past. This is history. Tell us the present," the bench said after going through the affidavit.

   

Earlier on February 19, the bench had directed the standing counsel for the Delhi government to seek instructions and file an affidavit indicating the actual position regarding the proposal of the then Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government. The court had passed the order as there was "no clarity" on whether the Delhi Cabinet had taken a decision to implement the subsidy as claimed by petitioner Vivek Sharma.

   

It was hearing a PIL, filed by advocate Vivek Sharma, challenging the subsidy given by former AAP government to people, who did not pay their power bills from October 2012 to December 2013.

   
After going through the government file, the bench had earlier observed that a note by former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had said the subsidy proposal needed to be placed before the Cabinet. However, the High Court had also noted that while it appeared no decision had been taken, there is no clarity on that.

(Agencies)

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AAP trying to emerge as third alternative in Gujarat

The AAP is confident that breaking the jinx, it would emerge as an alternative to both the BJP and the Congress in the coming elections, party state convener Sukhdev Patel said.    

The state has witnessed formation of many small and big political parties since its inception in 1960, but those parties have fizzled out due to lack of electoral success, a trend which is in contrast to many other Indian states, where regional parties are becoming stronger day-by-day.
   
Former chief minister Chimanbhai Patel had formed his Kisan Mazdoor Lok Paksh (KIMLOP) but it did not take off as expected. Later, he along with Chabbildas Mehta formed Janta Dal (Gujarat) also, but later merged it with the Congress party.
   
Another ex-chief minister Shankarsinh Vaghela, dividing the BJP formed his own party called Rashtriya Janta Party (RJP), which he later amalgamated into the Congress due to lack of electoral success.
   
Former CM Keshubhai Patel formed the Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP) just before the 2012 elections but now is on the verge of merging with BJP after his announcement to retire and other members mulling to rejoin the saffron outfit.
   
Several other small parties were formed but did not survive in Gujarat. Also, neither Left or other regional parties like Shiv Sena which tried to spread its wings met any success.    

"Its true that no third party has survived in the state except BJP and Congress..we accept it but AAP is different than political parties which were created earlier," Patel said.
   
"In the past, dissidents of BJP or Congress had revolted to form political parties as they felt that injustice have been meted out to them. They could not succeed in elections and all the parties formed by them had to wind up," he said.
       
"AAP is different, as it is not a regional party but a national party, formed with a view to give corruption-free governance," Patel said.

"If membership drive before the Lok Sabha elections is any indication, we have so far been able to register four lakh people from Gujarat, which shows that general public is not happy with either the ruling BJP or Congress," Patel said.    

"There is a match fixing between Congress and BJP and that is the reason people are coming in large number to join us," he said.
   
The Congress and BJP have however, dismissed the possibility of AAP emerging as a thrid party in the state 'defying history'.
   
"In the history of this state, it has not accepted any third party, unlike in many other states. They might get some benefit of their stance against corruption but the party has not yet made any mark in Gujarat," Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said.
   
A BJP leader said, "Any number of parties are welcome to fight elections here, but the historical trend has been that the state has accepted a two-party system and rejected the third party outrightly."

(Agencies)

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