On Nitish Kumar's Mission Opposition Unity, Mamata Banerjee may be nextSign In to read

The Indian Express | 17 hours ago | 24-04-2023 | 11:45 am

On Nitish Kumar's Mission Opposition Unity, Mamata Banerjee may be nextSign In to read

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar may meet his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee this week. The meeting with the TMC supremo, likely to be held in Kolkata, will be a part of the JD(U) leader’s ongoing efforts to gauge the position of parties such as TMC and BRS, which share frosty ties with the Congress, to the idea of fighting the 2024 general elections unitedly against the BJP.Kumar had decided to reach out to these parties following a meeting with the Congress leadership in Delhi earlier this month.Amid hectic preparations for Karnataka Assembly elections, the BJP has not taken its eyes off the Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll, which is scheduled for the same day — May 10. The by-election was necessitated after Congress’s Jalandhar MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary died of cardiac arrest earlier this year. Even for this single seat, the BJP is leaving no stone unturned and has assigned four of its Cabinet ministers — by virtue of the fact that they speak Punjabi — for campaigning in the constituency. It has selected Smriti Irani, Hardeep Singh Puri, Anurag Thakur and Dr Jitendra Singh for the Punjab campaign, which will begin on a war footing soon.

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To curb cash via air, EC checks choppers with Shivakumar family
The Indian Express | 17 hours ago | 24-04-2023 | 11:45 am
The Indian Express
17 hours ago | 24-04-2023 | 11:45 am

In the poll-bound Karnataka, the Election Commission (EC) officials Saturday inspected a private helicopter that carried several members of state Congress president D K Shivakumar’s family from Bengaluru to Dharmasthala in Dakshina Kannada district. Shivakumar’s family members were on a pilgrimage to offer their prayers at the Dharmasthala Manjunatha Swamy temple.As the helicopter landed at Dharmasthala, the EC officials approached it to conduct a search. The pilot questioned them about the need for the inspection, saying that the EC had been informed that the helicopter was not on election duty. However, the officials insisted on inspecting the chopper. The episode was captured in a video that went viral.The EC’s Model Code of Conduct (MCC) has been in force in Karnataka since March 29, when the poll body announced the schedule of the state Assembly polls to be held on May 10. As part of the EC’s campaign to curb electoral malpractices, its officials have been conducting regular inspections at various places across the state. They had even intercepted and checked Chief Minister and BJP leader Basavaraj Bommai’s car on March 31 when he was on his way to a temple in Chikkaballapura district.Since March 29, the EC officials have seized over Rs 253 crore worth of unaccounted cash, gold, freebies items, liquor and drugs so far in a bid to prevent their misuse during the polls.On April 17, the EC officials had searched the helicopter in which the BJP’s Karnataka election in-charge K Annamalai was travelling en route to Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts. The Congress’s candidate from the Kapu constituency, Vinay Kumar Sorake, had then alleged that Annamalai was carrying cash in his chopper. In its statement, the EC however said that Annamalai’s helicopter and ground vehicles had been checked by its officials six times in the Udupi and Kapu constituencies but they did not find any violations.Sources said the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel have been deployed in various checkposts across the state, which is thwarting unscrupulous elements’ attempts to transport money for unaccounted poll spendings. The EC officials have also been closely tracking the helicopters as air travel is high on the lists of key leaders for their campaigning.With the EC officials continuing their raids at various places, state minister Murugesh Nirani, who is the BJP’s candidate from the Bilgi seat, has been charged with bribing voters after 963 traditional silver lamps worth Rs 21.45 lakh were found in his factory staff quarters in the Mudhol police station area. The EC made the seizure Friday, following which the minister was booked under Section 171H of the IPC related to “illegal payments in connection with an election”.

To curb cash via air, EC checks choppers with Shivakumar family
In less than 4 hours, SP's mayor candidate becomes BJP's nominee
The Indian Express | 17 hours ago | 24-04-2023 | 11:45 am
The Indian Express
17 hours ago | 24-04-2023 | 11:45 am

In a span of less than four hours on Sunday evening, Archana Verma, who was earlier named by the opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) as its candidate to contest Shahjahanpur mayor’s election, joined the BJP and grabbed the ticket to contest the polls, albeit as a nominee of the ruling party.The dramatic turn of events took place on the eve of the last day for filing nominations for the two-phase polls, leaving the SP scrambling to find her replacement.Around 5 pm on Sunday, Archana Verma, 51, joined the BJP in presence of Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak and Finance Minister Suresh Khanna in Lucknow.While Archana Verma did not speak at the event, Deputy CM Pathak said, “…Samajwadi Party had declared Archana Verma as their (mayoral) candidate in Shahjahanpur, but she was unhappy with the policies of the Samajwadi Party. She couldn’t connect with the SP’s activities. She had issues with the way atrocities were committed against women under the SP governments in the past.”Suresh Khanna, a nine-time MLA from Shahjahanpur who is said to have played a crucial role in bringing Archana to the BJP fold, said she was “troubled by the factionalism” in the SP.By 9 pm, the BJP announced a list of seven mayoral candidates with Verma as the party’s candidate for Shahjahanpur mayor poll.Shahjahanpur mayor post is reserved for the Other Backward Class (OBC) women.Despite the SP announcing her candidature 12 days ago, she had not filed her nomination papers.“We will announce a new candidate, and the nomination will be filed on Monday,” SP spokesperson Rajendra Choudhary said as he accused the BJP of misusing power to get Archana Verma. “They (BJP) used the power of being in government to sway our leader to join them,” Choudhary added.A Samajwadi Party leader in Shahjahanpur said that till late Sunday afternoon, there were no signs that Verma could be leaving the party. “We spoke to her today and everything seemed normal. A programme was held at her residence to mark the death anniversary of her father-in-law and former MP Ram Murtee Singh Verma. District SP leaders were present and she spoke with them. But after the event, she stopped taking our calls and by the evening, we learn from news channels that she has joined the BJP in Lucknow,” said the SP leader. “Everyone knows that the party in power has an edge in local civic elections. Hence, she has gone with the BJP,” added the leader.Archana Verma, who was elected as a Zila Panchayat chairperson in 2004, hails from a political family. Her father-in-law, the late Ram Murtee Singh Verma, was a two-time MP from Shahjahanpur and a four-time MLA. In 2015, when he was a minister in the SP government, Ram Murtee was booked for the murder of Shahjahanpur-based journalist Jagendra Singh. Archana’s husband Rajesh Kumar Verma unsuccessfully contested the 2022 Assembly elections on an SP ticket from Dadraul in Shahjahanpur district.Meanwhile, the ruling BJP on Sunday evening announced candidates for seven mayor seats, including Archana Verma for Shahjahanpur. The party has given tickets to Pramila Pandey for Kanpur mayor polls, Girishpati Tripathi for Ayodhya, Harikant Ahluwalia for Meerut, Sunita Dayal for Ghaziabad, Prashant Singhal for Aligarh and Umesh Gautam for Bareilly.The elections to UP’s 760 urban local bodies – including 17 Municipal Corporations, 199 Nagar Palika Parishads and 544 Nagar Panchayats – will be held in two phases on May 4 and 11.The counting of votes will take place on May 13.

In less than 4 hours, SP's mayor candidate becomes BJP's nominee
I-T raids properties of real estate firm with alleged DMK links in Tamil Nadu
The Indian Express | 17 hours ago | 24-04-2023 | 11:45 am
The Indian Express
17 hours ago | 24-04-2023 | 11:45 am

The Income Tax (IT) Department Monday morning began raids at multiple locations linked to real estate firm G Square, a company, according to Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai, having close ties with the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).According to sources, the I-T sleuths began their search operation at multiple G Square offices in Chennai, Coimbatore, Tiruchirapalli, Hosur and other locations, with police deployment outside.As the officials carried out raids at the residence of a DMK functionary, the cadres gathered and raised slogans against the Union government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.#WATCH| Tamil Nadu: DMK cadre holds protest after Income Tax raids house of Anna Nagar DMK MLA MK Mohan’s son, who is a shareholder of firm G Square pic.twitter.com/Sj3QFC6QBv— ANI (@ANI) April 24, 2023G Square Realtors Private Limited, a private company, was incorporated on October 12, 2012. The company came under the scanner in 2019 when the I-T department carried out a similar search.Earlier this month, Annamalai released DMK Files, a collection of corruption allegations against the MK Stalin-led party. As per his valuations and estimations, the former IPS officer alleged that DMK leaders’ assets were worth Rs 1.34 lakh crore. The DMK responded to the allegations by sending multiple legal notices against the BJP leader.The DMK accused Annamalai of making “constant attempts to defame, scandalise and tarnish the reputation” of Chief Minister M K Stalin and other party leaders with “vile, defamatory, scandalous and motivated statements”.The DMK claimed in a legal notice that Annamalai estimated the party’s total property assets “by inflating the values of certain DMK properties and including unconnected imaginary properties”.

I-T raids properties of real estate firm with alleged DMK links in Tamil Nadu
In CM Shinde's bastion, 25 FIRs against political rivals in 10 monthsPremium Story
The Indian Express | 17 hours ago | 24-04-2023 | 11:45 am
The Indian Express
17 hours ago | 24-04-2023 | 11:45 am

On April 2, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray)’s Roshni Shinde was allegedly slapped by women from the Eknath Shinde-led Sena in Thane. She was reportedly manhandled over a social media post insulting the Chief Minister. After the incident, which was captured on a CCTV camera, two first information reports (FIRs) were registered against her and a non-cognisable offence (NC) was filed on her complaint. Thane Police went to court on April 4 for permission to investigate her complaint.Hers is not an isolated incident. A trend has emerged in Thane since Eknath Shinde became the Maharashtra Chief Minister. An analysis of FIRs registered by Thane police — based on media reports since his government came to power on June 30, 2022 — by The Indian Express shows that 25 FIRs were registered against members of the Sena (UBT), the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress, and one FIR was against a rapper over the last 10 months. Of 26 FIRs, 21 are in connection with “targeting” of Shinde by the Opposition via social media posts, comments or banners.Eleven FIRs were initially registered against former MP Anand Paranjpe, which were eventually reduced to one after the Bombay High Court rapped Thane police. Most FIRs have been registered under Section 153 (A) (promoting enmity between different groups) of the Indian Penal Code, which carries a maximum punishment of five-year imprisonment.In the same period, a handful of FIRs were filed against the Shinde Sena. One of the few reported FIRs against the camp was in connection with Shinde Sena workers attacking a Bharatiya Janata Party worker. Apart from this, there were two reported NCs registered against Shinde Sena members.Alleging lopsided police action in Roshni’s case, Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray and Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies — the NCP and Congress — had protested near Thane Police Commissioner’s office on April 5. Alleging that Thane police only took orders from the CM, Aaditya had claimed that Thane Police Commissioner Jaijeet Singh had failed to meet Uddhav Thackeray, when the latter went to meet him on April 4.State Congress president Nana Patole; former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan and Prithviraj Chavan; and former minister Balasaheb Thorat had met Singh on April 12 to demand action against Shinde Sena workers for allegedly attacking Congress office-bearer Girish Koli on March 31 over a reported comment against Shinde on social media.‘Officers remained loyal to Shinde’In an interview last week, Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar had said that Shinde enjoyed tremendous clout in Thane, where he resides and from where he was elected as legislator and his son Shrikant as MP. Pawar hinted that even before he became Chief Minister, Shinde had a say in police postings at Thane Commissionerate.Pawar said, “We knew Shinde would rebel. We had alerted (NCP chief) Sharad Pawar and Thackeray about it. Though we had the reins in our hands, they (Shinde faction) managed it so well that we could not do anything… Thackeray as CM had given all authority to Shinde to decide who would be (appointed as) officers in Thane. All civic and police officers were appointed by Shinde (then in Thackeray’s cabinet). All officers remained loyal to Shinde when he decided to escape to Surat with some MLAs. Though Thackeray asked the officers to ensure the vehicles escaping to Surat were turned back to Matoshree (Thackeray residence), the officers remained loyal to Shinde.”In January, Paranjpe had alleged that certain Thane police officers were working as Shinde’s “private army”.Talking to The Indian Express, Paranjpe said, “Thane police, especially some officers, are working at the behest of the Shinde government. Cases by Thane police have been falling flat in court since the police have not followed due procedure. In most cases, the accused gets bail instantly.”Pulling up Thane police for registering 11 FIRs for the same offence against Paranjpe, a Bombay High Court Bench had observed, “Police officers will not learn a lesson until costs are imposed on them and recovered from their salaries. This has to stop. Ultimately who suffers is the common man.”A Thane police officer claimed that in some sensitive cases, politicians directly call up the station in-charge and give inputs. “It is possible senior officers are not completely in the loop,” the official claimed.As per an October 16, 2018, notification by the Department of Personnel and Training, of the five zones under the Thane Police Commissionerate, Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCPs) from Zones I to IV are cadre postings — sensitive posts to be occupied by IPS officers — along with DCP (Crime Branch) and DCP (Special Branch). Currently, only DCP (Zone IV) and DCP (Special Branch) are promoted IPS officers, while the other four posts are held by state cadre officers.“Apart from the Thane Police Commissioner, there is not a single direct IPS officer in Thane currently, which is rare. This shows necessary criteria has not been followed in these postings,” a source said.A senior officer said, “Even in cases where FIRs that appear political have been registered, no action has been taken — neither the accused arrested, nor charge sheets filed. In some cases, like the molestation case against Awhad, since a woman came forward and gave a complaint, the police had to register an FIR. If complaints are given against Shinde camp leaders, action will be taken in those cases as well.”Commissioner Singh told The Indian Express, “All FIRs are registered after a preliminary enquiry. Arrests are made only where permissible by law and needed for investigation. We conduct impartial investigations and charge sheets are filed only after ensuring there is enough evidence on record which will stand scrutiny in court. The final report is submitted to courts in all other cases for closure.”Shinde Sena spokesperson Kiran Pawaskar said, “It is not as if someone like Awhad did not have cases against him before this government came to power. There were several cases against him. In fact, when the MVA was in power, he and his men beat up an engineer. Were all those cases registered at the behest of CM Shinde too? The CM does not interfere in issues of law and order. The opposition has got into the habit of crying foul and blaming the CM for everything — be it police action or a heatwave.”

In CM Shinde's bastion, 25 FIRs against political rivals in 10 monthsPremium Story
Raghav Chadha: ‘BJP sees AAP as its challenger nationally; only Kejriwal can take on PM Modi’Premium Story
The Indian Express | 17 hours ago | 24-04-2023 | 11:45 am
The Indian Express
17 hours ago | 24-04-2023 | 11:45 am

Raghav Chadha is among the dynamic young leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), who has seen it grow both in Delhi and Punjab. His toughest challenge was to build the party organisation ground up in the Majha belt of Punjab, once the hotbed of militancy. Apart from manning election backrooms, Chadha has emerged as an articulate party spokesperson.We didn’t inherit a golden state. Everything was in a shambles — be it a fragile law and order situation, a bankrupt economy, defunct welfare schemes, poor infrastructure, schools and hospitals. In the past year, the Bhagwant Mann government has done some remarkable work. From starting 117 schools of excellence, to getting an adequate number of trained teachers and redoing the entire school infrastructure similar to what we had done in Delhi, we have kickstarted an education drive. In healthcare, we are strengthening the primary health care structure with more than 500 mohalla clinics. In terms of finances, Punjab had a debt of roughly Rs 3.75 lakh crore. But our excise revenue this financial year has increased by about 40 per cent. Our GST has increased by roughly 17 per cent and our income from property sale and registration has gone up by 78 per cent. This is unprecedented growth in the revenue stream of the government. So finances are being taken care of, revenue leakages are being plugged, compliance is being ensured. And all this has happened without any increment in the rate of taxes or any additional levies. As regards law and order, we have ended gun culture, busted 80 modules and cracked down on pro-Khalistani sympathisers. The government is developing low cost housing, townships, redoing cities, putting up sewage and water treatment plants. We’ve provided 300 units of free electricity. Anybody would tell you that they had not seen any government in the last four decades of the post-militancy era perform so much in their first year.Being a border state, Punjab has been critical for Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) which wants to destabilise it and Jammu and Kashmir for its ulterior motives. Amritpal is a factory-made product commissioned to tinker with the peace and harmony of the state. But we have  the right political will to counter them.Under the current BJP regime at the Centre, federalism has been thrown out of the window. We are struggling to get our Rural Development Fund of Rs 3,000-odd crore, which is our right. When it comes to national security, we work closely with the Centre. Politics should take a backseat. We have been receiving some support on this.Solving the drug menace is a multi-tier activity. When you curtail supply and when you nab the dealers, you also have to give a parallel healthcare support system to the addicts and help rehabilitate them. So, the government is working on both fronts. As you have seen that the government of Punjab petitioned the High Court on the previous sealed reports submitted by the SIT (Special Investigation Team). These sealed envelopes were never opened by successive governments for fear of the big fish tumbling out. Give us some more time.There is complete political will to get him. The Punjab Chief Minister himself comes from the artist fraternity and feels the pain of loss. In fact, the Punjab government has acted against those who didn’t surrender and counter-fired at the police, who were the principal attackers. We are in contact with the Central government, foreign law enforcement agencies, Interpol. Forget administration, we’re also his fans.Look, I have been fortunate enough to work with Bhagwant Mann for the longest time. I was his first friend and have assisted him in his first tenure as an MP since 2014, when I was assigned the responsibility of being the secretary of the parliamentary group of our four MPs. I’ve had a working and personal relationship with him all these years. I am being accused wrongly by the Opposition. I am not the super CM. I’m just the super brother of the super CM, that’s all.Quite frankly, there is a tried and tested model of governance in Delhi, which many states are learning from. The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin inspected schools in Delhi. If other state governments can borrow a leaf from our book, why can’t our own state government? There is a fantastic working relationship between the Punjab government and the Delhi government of Arvind Kejriwal.  The two states signed a knowledge-sharing agreement to learn from the best practices of each other.Allegedly he was there in Bathinda jail when these interviews were done but within a 100-metre radius around the jail, there is no network because jammers have been installed. So there cannot be a video call or an internet-based conversation or a VoIP call that can take place. The Punjab Police has already issued a clarification. We are given to understand it could be Rajasthan because he was there for a while.In Delhi, before the first financial year of this policy could be completed, active efforts were made by the Lieutenant Governor (LG) and the BJP-run MCD to stall its implementation. Shops were not permitted to be opened, stakeholders involved were denied permissions. Much before we could come out with the results of the increase in revenue, we saw cases being lodged and people being investigated for some alleged scam that happens to be only present in the minds of BJP leaders. Punjab is a full state, there was no interference from any stakeholder and a proper implementation of the policy took place. The policy wasn’t flawed, the BJP’s intent was. They could interfere in Delhi because it is not a full state; the Lieutenant Governor, the MCD and other stakeholders are involved.This is a classic misunderstanding. It was never withdrawn by the political executive. Every year, the excise policy of every state government is presented afresh when the budget is presented. When it came to renewing this policy, the LG stalled it, saying we had to revert to the old system. The political executive did not withdraw it.Work distribution and allocation of portfolios as per the Constitution are the responsibility of the Chief Minister. However, as a spectator, the size of the Delhi Cabinet is 10 per cent of the overall strength of the Delhi Legislative Assembly. It is just seven people, including the Chief Minister. But portfolios are many. So even if you were to equally divide them among these people, everyone would end up holding more than a dozen.  We have to increase the size and number of the constituencies, amend the Constitution, make 20 per cent of the MLAs as ministers. Quite frankly, it’s the prerogative of the Chief Minister.We have maintained from day one that the BJP’s objective is not to arrest just Manish Sisodia or Satyendar Jain or Raghav Chadha. The idea is to destroy AAP and its leader Arvind Kejriwal. The objective is not one alleged excise irregularity, the idea is to completely eliminate the AAP, the idea of the AAP. They perhaps think we’re the only challengers to the BJP. I have been saying this for a very long time, pre-Punjab and post-Punjab, that if there is one man that can challenge the might of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it is Arvind Kejriwal. BJP leaders fear only AAP and Kejriwal.  The only challenge they see at the pan-India level is Kejriwal because AAP has certain ingredients that other political parties lack. In Gujarat, where I was co-campaign in-charge, I came to know that the BJP’s national leadership had given a message to its people and cadres not to worry about the Congress, even if it won three to six seats more than what they got last time. But they were told to eliminate AAP.However, we have maintained that if you arrest one Sisodia, hundreds of Sisodias will come up. He is the name of an institution that has redefined Indian politics and school education. And by putting him behind bars, you can’t kill the institutional idea of him. He’ll be out soon.We’ve seen the blatant misuse of Central agencies over the last eight years. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has had only 23 convictions in the last eight years although it registered 3,550 new cases. This translates to a conviction rate of less than 0.05 per cent. With the pre-trial arrest being the only agenda of the ED, it is trying to eliminate the Opposition in general, and the AAP in particular, from Indian politics.AAP doesn’t think about filling spaces. We function as a family, we work together, live together, eat together, govern together. And the void that Mr Sisodia has left will be filled the moment he’s back in action. We have full faith in the judiciary. You will see the streetfighter he is once he is out.I’m not privy to the exact numbers and the metrics used. Having gone to villages over the last two-and-a-half years, the primary education is in a shambles. There are no schools. Even if school buildings exist, neither students nor teachers show up.A minimum educational qualification is mandated by the Election Commission. As a people’s party, we’re only advancing what people have been asking for a while.We no longer have the Anti-Corruption branch (ACB) with us unlike the first 49 days of our first term in 2013. The Sheila Dikshit-led Congress government had it for 15 years and prior to that, all chief ministers of Delhi had it. When we got into office in 2015, two key elements of administration were snatched from us. One was the services, which meant we couldn’t have a say in bureaucrats’ transfers and postings. The second was the ACB. Both these mechanisms now come under the jurisdiction of the LG. The Supreme Court has reserved its judgment on which office should have a say over these departments and we hope to have clarity in one month. With the full administration in Punjab, there’s a complete crackdown on corruption irrespective of the offender’s political colour or bureaucratic might. Chargesheets have been filed and people have been convicted.It is the Central government’s resolve to fight corruption that is being questioned. People are asking how, out of the total number of cases registered by the CBI, 95 per cent are against Opposition parties. The Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) of 2022 has been amended in such a manner that you can keep a person in jail for months under the garb of an investigation. Between 2014 and 2019, there has been a 1,000 per cent rise in the number of cases registered under this Act.It’s not about comparing one individual’s qualifications with another. The question before us is should the elected representative have a bare minimum education or not? Why is the BJP so scared? In fact, the LG recently made an obnoxious remark. He said a degree is only the receipt of the fee that you pay at a college. Is he belittling the entire education system of India?AAP’s individual strategy is not important, what is important is the collective strategy of the people of India to defeat the BJP.  If you rewind to 1977,  everyone got together — the socialists, communists, Jan Sangh and the people of India — under a strategy of pitting one candidate against the one Congress candidate and they ended up defeating the mighty Indira Gandhi. Something similar is required in 2024 to defeat the mighty BJP and Prime Minister Modi.  Unemployment is at a 45-year high, inflation at a 30-year high.  The average debt of a farmer has gone up by 53 per cent. More than 30 farmers commit suicide every day. The BJP polled about 31 per cent in 2014 and 39  per cent in 2019 as its overall vote share. That means more than 60 per cent of the population is voting against the BJP. The Opposition and people need to think about fragmentation of this vote.As somebody who considers Kejriwal as his mentor, leader, friend, philosopher and guide, I would certainly say that my leader is the only one who can take on the might of the BJP and PM Modi. A new brand, vocabulary and a new idea of politics is  required to challenge the BJP. If people like the alternative, they will vote.Not at all. It’s been a fantastic debut. A political party in its first outing in a state, where the BJP is considered invincible, wins five seats and gets 13 per cent of the vote. It becomes a national party. It’s a huge achievement. If you want to juxtapose this with 2017, you can draw a parallel with Punjab that year and Gujarat in 2022. A few years on, you should see AAP  in Gujarat.As somebody who’s been on foreign soil and been asked about domestic politics, I have maintained that we should not rake up domestic politics. When we go to a foreign country, we don’t go there as BJP or AAP or Congress leaders, we represent the country. Having said that, let’s not make a political leader’s questions about the conduct of the ruling party the same as questioning India’s credentials overseas.The existing collegium system has been upheld by the Supreme Court from 1992. Any attempt to tinker with the independence of the judiciary is per se unconstitutional. When names are sent by the collegium, they keep sitting on it and bargain with the judges. Then they will spoil the internal evaluation status of names suggested; they will manufacture reports and make a case to convince everybody the person is unfit to be a judge. Every right-thinking individual needs to oppose this.When communal violence happened in Delhi, ministers, MLAs and the CM were on the streets. We summoned the public policy head of Facebook. We took each of the stakeholders to task to ensure that peace and harmony are not tinkered with. We took a stand against bulldozer politics.Raghav Chadha is among the dynamic young leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), who has seen it grow both in Delhi and Punjab. His toughest challenge was to build the party organisation ground up in the Majha belt of Punjab, once the hotbed of militancy. AAP posted an overwhelming win in Punjab despite the strong footprint of both the Congress and Akali Dal. It was because of this success in Punjab that Chadha was sent to Gujarat as the co-campaign in-charge for the Assembly elections there. AAP may have got five seats but notched up a vote share of 13 per cent. Apart from manning election backrooms, Chadha has emerged as an articulate party spokesperson.

Raghav Chadha: ‘BJP sees AAP as its challenger nationally; only Kejriwal can take on PM Modi’Premium Story