LS polls: Kejriwal's interim bail, BJP's bid to corner AAP on 'graft' spice up battle for Delhi

ls polls: kejriwal's interim bail, bjp's bid to corner aap on 'graft' spice up battle for delhi

LS polls: Kejriwal's interim bail, BJP's bid to corner AAP on 'graft' spice up battle for Delhi

As the general elections enter their sixth or penultimate phase, the seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital have come into focus, with the ruling BJP at the Centre eyeing another clean sweep and Aam Aadmi Party hoping to send its first Lok Sabha MP from Delhi.

The BJP won all seven seats in the national capital in both the 2014 and 2019 general elections while the AAP, despite being the ruling party in 2015 and briefly in 2013 (for 49 days), never managed to win a single seat in the Lower House of Parliament.

This time, however, the AAP and the Congress are contesting the polls in the Capital as partners in the INDIA bloc, with the former contesting four seats and the latter three.

As part of the bargain, the AAP is also contesting one seat in Haryana and two in BJP-ruled Gujarat. However, the two parties opted for a friendly fight in AAP-ruled Punjab.

In Delhi, the Arvind Kejriwal-led party is contesting East Delhi, West Delhi, South Delhi and New Delhi while the Congress has put up candidates in North-East Delhi, North-West Delhi and Chandni Chowk.

The AAP candidates are Kuldeep Kumar from East Delhi, Sahiram Pehalwan from South Delhi, Mahabal Mishra from West Delhi and Somnath Bharti from New Delhi.

While the Congress’ Lok Sabha picks in the national capital include Udit Raj from North-West Delhi (reserved SC seat), Jai Prakash Agarwal from Chandni Chowk and former JNU Student’s Union President Kanhaiya Kumar from North-East Delhi.

The BJP, which swept the 2019 polls in the national capital, dropped six of its seven MPs in Delhi this time, with actor turned politician Manoj Tiwari, the party’s sitting MP from North-East Delhi, being the only one retained.

The six new names in the BJP’s list of candidates for the national capital were Praveen Khandelwal from Chandni Chowk, Harsh Deep Malhotra from East Delhi, Yogender Chandolia from North-West Delhi, Ramvir Singh Bhiduri from South Delhi, Kamaljeet Singh Sehrawat from West Delhi and Bansuri Swaraj, the daughter of late BJP veteran Sushma Swaraj from New Delhi.

Setting the cat amongst the pigeons just ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the AAP national convenor was arrested after long hours of questioning by an ED team at his residence in connection with the Delhi excise policy case. The development came as a huge blow to the ruling party in the Capital, with several of its bigwigs–Sanjay Singh, Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain–already behind bars on graft charges.

Even as the AAP rejoiced the Supreme Court’s grant of interim bail to Kejriwal in the liquor policy case, in what came as a shot in the arm for the ruling party in the Capital amid the campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls, the ED filed a chargesheet naming the AAP as an accused.

According to some reports, it was the first instance in the country of a political party being named in an alleged corruption case.

Allegations were also raised over alleged irregularities in the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and dated medicines at the flagship mohalla clinics that feature at the top of the party’s list of accomplishments.

However, while the BJP gunned for the AAP over these allegations, the latter received a major campaign boost following the grant of interim bail by the apex court till June 1.

Since coming out of Tihar jail, where he was lodged for over a month, the AAP supremo gave speed and purpose to his party’s campaign, which, till then, was being led by his wife Suntia Kejriwal.

In addition to headlining roadshows and public meetings in Delhi for the party’s candidates and those of ally Congress, Kejriwal has also held rallies in Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Punjab.

However, just when the AAP’s campaign seemed to be going through the gears, the Swati Maliwal assault case cast a fresh spanner in its works. Days after Kejriwal’s release and weeks before voting in Delhi, the AAP Rajya Sabha MP alleged that she was assaulted at the CM’s residence by his former aide Bibhav Kumar.

As the details of Maliwal’s alleged assault came out, with the former Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chairperson claiming to have been ‘kicked’, ‘slapped’, and ‘dragged around’ inside the CM’s Civil Lines residence, the BJP went for the jugular as it hit out at the AAP over its flip-flop after initially owning ul to the ‘assault’ and promising ‘strict action’.

However, in a stunning U-turn, senior AAP leader Atishi dismissed Maliwal’s assault charge at the CM’s former principal secretary Bibhav Kumar, while labelling the Rajya Sabha MP as a ‘BJP agent’.

In response to the case registered by Delhi Police on Maliwal’s complaint, Bibhav lodged a counter-complaint earlier, accusing her of gaining ‘unauthorised entry’ into the CM’s Civil Lines residence and ‘verbally abusing’ him.

However, despite writing to Delhi Police that he was ready to cooperate with the ongoing investigation into the assault claim, the CM’s former aide was arrested and remanded in five days of police custody. The sleuths also recreated the scene at CM Kejriwal’s residence while going over the CCTV footage.

Meanwhile, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed to investigate the Maliwal case.

As the political temperature in the national capital shoots up, rivalling the mercury amid the prevailing heatwave, and the campaign pitch grows shriller, with the liquor policy case and the Maliwal episode adding to the discourse, a keen contest awaits.

While the BJP is eyeing an encore after winning all seven seats by handsome margins in 2019, INDIA partners AAP and the Congress are hoping for windfall electoral gains in the national capital this time.

OTHER NEWS

10 minutes ago

Gary Lineker responds to stinging Harry Kane jibe after foul-mouth England criticism

10 minutes ago

Broncos LB Cody Barton could follow Alex Singleton's career arc

10 minutes ago

Alberta oil and gas sector exceeded flaring limit in 2023, data shows

10 minutes ago

Oil reserves – do they matter?

10 minutes ago

Crucial ministerial posts cause delays as GNU partners battle to find common ground

14 minutes ago

Russia summons the American ambassador over a deadly attack that Moscow says used US-made missiles

17 minutes ago

Princess Anne is in hospital after suffering 'injuries and concussion'

17 minutes ago

Derelict house in Wexford on the market for €100,000

17 minutes ago

Princess Anne in hospital after 'incident' at royal estate

17 minutes ago

Florida firefighter kills new wife in murder-suicide after ominous Facebook post

17 minutes ago

France vs Poland TV channel, start time and how to watch Euro 2024 fixture online tomorrow

17 minutes ago

Prince William and Kate Middleton 'shaken to the core’ but marriage is ‘stronger than ever’

17 minutes ago

More Drama For UK Royal Family As Princess Anne Taken To Hospital

20 minutes ago

Conservative-backed group creating a list of federal workers it suspects could be hostile to Trump's policies

20 minutes ago

Stanley Cup Final Game 7 Panthers vs. Oilers: Predictions, odds, how to watch

20 minutes ago

Where is the 2024 NBA Draft being held? Location, more to know

20 minutes ago

UK woman’s nightmare cruise leads to special bond with Aussie mum, charity helping DV victims

20 minutes ago

The Deadly Flooding Tearing Through Southern China, in Photos

20 minutes ago

Mets closer Edwin Diaz ejected after foreign substance check vs. Cubs

20 minutes ago

Highs of 31C forecast for coming week as temperatures soar

25 minutes ago

Mostly police officers killed in attacks in Russian region of Dagestan

28 minutes ago

Caitlin Clark opens up on the prospect of playing alongside WNBA rival Angel Reese in All-Star game vs. Team USA

28 minutes ago

CNN host Kasie Hunt cuts off interview with Trump press secretary Karoline Leavitt for attacking debate moderator Jake Tapper

28 minutes ago

Video: Treadmill tragedy as fitness fanatic, 22, stumbles backwards off running machine before plunging to her death out of gym's third-floor window during workout

28 minutes ago

Video: Nigel Farage calls for the West to start 'sensible' negotiations with Putin over 'horrific stalemate' in Ukraine as he faces fury for 'echoing' Russian dictator's lines

28 minutes ago

Video: ING bank scam: Canberra woman loses eye-watering $1.6million in new sting to another 'posh pom' scammer with a British accent

28 minutes ago

Young pitch invader at Euro 2024 got away with a warning, claims father

28 minutes ago

PSL champions Mameloidi Sundowns and Nedbank title-holders Orlando Pirates stood tall at the PSL Awards

28 minutes ago

11 conclusions from the weekend’s rugby league including Leeds Rhinos, Salford Red Devils

28 minutes ago

Jonathon Cooper named Broncos' most underrated player

28 minutes ago

Why has the cost of home insurance suddenly gone through the roof?

28 minutes ago

I'm a consultant in my mid-20s. Here's what a day in my life is like and how I use AI in my job.

28 minutes ago

No quarter given: Who will remain in the hunt for Sam Maguire after the last-eight ties?

28 minutes ago

Princess Anne hospitalised with concussion

28 minutes ago

Hochul on NY social media law: ‘You cannot turn a blind eye to trauma that has been inflicted on our children’

28 minutes ago

'Gorgeous' M&S sandals 'butter soft from day one' now in the sale

28 minutes ago

"We didn't get the chance to do that" - Kevin Garnett breaks down what Boston needs to do next to stay elite

28 minutes ago

Peter Andre pulled over for drink-driving after cops mistook coffee for pint of Guinness

28 minutes ago

Shebeshxt pays tribute to daughter in wheelchair at funeral service, amid health battle

28 minutes ago

London Tunnels tourist attraction snubs London Stock Exchange in favour of Amsterdam IPO