New Delhi: Young Rakhi Birla had already emerged as a giant killer on 8 December when she defeated former Delhi minister and Congress leader Raj Kumar Chauhan in Delhi's Mangol Puri constituency by a margin of 10,585 votes.
At 26 years of age, Birla is not only the single woman member in Arvind Kejriwal's cabinet but also the youngest one. She's one of the three women to get elected to the Delhi Assembly
The master degree holder in Mass Communication has assets worth Rs 51,500 and education loans worth Rs 2,29,000 in her name.
On Monday, the former journalist was hounded by media people when she came out of the Constitution Club who kept demanding a quote from her. One journalist aggressively told her, "Madam media has made you and you have to give us a byte."
But she stood her ground and said, "If you talk to me like this do you think I will give you a quote."
However, she posed quite obligingly for a picture when Firstpost asked for one.
Firstpost
Politics Live: Congress may drop a bomb, might withdraw support to AAP
by Arun George 22 mins ago
#AAP #Arvind Kejriwal #BJP #Congress #Delhi #Delhi Election 2013 #Harsh Vardhan #Janata Dal United #Lieutenant Governor #NewsTracker #President's rule #Shiromani Akali Dal
inShare.0EmailPrint7.00 pm: Congress divided on support to AAP
New Delhi: Divisions in Congress today came out in the open over its support to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to form government in Delhi with a senior AICC functionary saying that the decision was "perhaps not correct".
Party general secretary Janardan Dwivedi's remarks came a day after scores of Congress supporters held a demonstration outside the DPCC office in protest on Monday against the party's decision to extend outside support to AAP to form the government in Delhi.
Ever since AAP decided to form a government in Delhi with Congress support, the leaders of Congress have been repeatedly emphasising that their support to AAP is not unconditional.
Sections in the party view that supporting AAP, which is hitting out at Congress day in and day out and threatening to book its leaders and ordering probes against them, makes the party look poor in peoples' eyes.
Moreover there is a view that Congress was caught napping as the leaders, who favoured supporting AAP to form government, were of the belief that Kejriwal will avoid staking claim to power.
Reflecting the unease within
Young Rakhi Birla had already emerged as a giant killer on 8 December when she defeated former Delhi minister and Congress leader Raj Kumar Chauhan in Delhi's Mangol Puri constituency by a margin of 10,585 votes.
At 26 years of age, Birla is not only the single woman member in Arvind Kejriwal's cabinet but also the youngest one. She's one of the three women to get elected to the Delhi Assembly.
The master degree holder in Mass Communication has assets worth Rs 51,500 and education loans worth Rs 2,29,000 in her name.
On Monday, the former journalist was hounded by media people when she came out of the Constitution Club who kept demanding a quote from her. One journalist aggressively told her, "Madam media has made you and you have to give us a byte."
But she stood her ground and said, "If you talk to me like this do you think I will give you a quote."
However, she posed quite obligingly for a picture when Firstpost asked for one.
6.40 pm: Infighting starts over cabinet berth, Vinod Kumar Binny miffed
Tensions have began in the Aam Aadmi Party soon after party leader Arvind Kejriwal announced the list of party MLAs in the Delhi Cabinet. Party MLA Vinod Kumar Binny, who met Kejriwal over berth in the Delhi Cabinet, said that he will hold a press conference on Wednesday. A former Congressman representing Laxmi Nagar, Binny did not feature in the list announced by Kejriwal for the Delhi Cabinet, CNN-IBN reported. He was with the Congress from 2009 to 2011 before joining the Jan Lokpal movement.
6.30 pm: AAP, Congress busy self-serving: Jaitley
New Delhi: BJP today alleged that Congress and AAP were collaborating to form government in a "self-serving" exercise with "dishonourable" motive, as Congress wanted a breather and feared another electoral humiliation while AAP was keen to prevent its MLAs from being "scattered".
Predicting that such a government will not last long, Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said, "Both Congress and the AAP have entered in to this political adjustment with a self serving motive.
"Each wants to outfox the other. The Congress wants the AAP to make a few mistakes so that it can recover its constituency and then force a poll."
In an article, Jaitley said that Congress has chosen to get insulted and become the B-team of AAP by supporting its government as in an event of an early re-election it would get squeezed out even more.
The BJP leader charged AAP with falling to the temptation of forming a government in Delhi to have a national presence. To achieve this, AAP resorted to a "farcical referendum" and went back on its commitment of not taking support of the Congress.
Congress, Jaitley maintained, is a clear loser in these elections with only eight seats.
"Congress cannot afford an early re-election. It needs breathing time to recover. If no government had been formed in Delhi, a re-election could have been held along with Lok Sabha polls. In that event, the ‘Modi factor’ would also have influenced the outcome of the polls," Jaitley said.
PTI
5.05 pm: Kejriwal picks team for Delhi cabinet
Delhi Chief Minister-designate Arvind Kejriwal has finalised his team that will be sworn in Delhi's Ramlila Maidan on 26 December. A CNN-IBN report said that former journalist Manish Sisodia, IIT graduate and lawyer Somnath Bharti, former journalist and activist Rakhi Birla, engineer Saurabh Bhardwaj and Girish Soni and Satyendra Jain will be part of the initial ministerial team.
3.05: Kejriwal to announce ministers on Wednesday
According to reports, President Pranab Mukherjee has already approved Kejriwal's appointment as the chief minister of Delhi and has forwarded a letter of appointment to a joint secretary level officer in the government, reports DNA. Senior IAS officer, Rajendra Kumar, is tipped to become the Principal Secretary to Arvind Kejriwal.
On the other hand, the AAP is all sent to name its ministers on Wednesday. Word is out that Prashant Bhushan, Manish Sisodia, Rakhi Birla are among the MLAs who will bag important ministries. IANS reports:
"The AAP will name its ministers in Delhi on Wednesday, party leader Manish Sisodia said Tuesday, a day after the AAP staked claim to form a government.
"The names will be announced tomorrow (Wednesday). It will be done before the swearing in ceremony takes place," Sisodia told the media. He added that the date for oath taking had not been finalized yet.
Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal has said he and his ministers will take oath at the Ramlila Maidan."
PTI further reports: "Meanwhile, newly elected AAP MLAs Rakhi Birla from Mangolpuri constituency, Somnath Bharti from Malviya Nagar and
Manish Sisodia from Patparganj, who are tipped to become Ministers, met Kejriwal."
1.50 pm: Digvijaya Singh congratulates Arvind Kejriwal
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh congratulated Arvind Kejriwal on his decision to form a government in Delhi with outside support from the Congress. "Success of Kejriwal should now encourage all those who are bitter critics of politics and politicians to participate in electoral politics," he said in a tweet. PTI reported that he has also said that he is sure Kejriwal will fulfill all the promises he has made to the voters.
1.40 pm: Kejriwal refuses official bungalow
After rejecting the Delhi Police's request to accept Z-level security, now Arvind Kejriwal has also announced that neither him, nor his ministers will be living in the official bungalows meant for the ministry.
A report on Hindustan Times says: "Kejriwal also decided that neither he nor any of his ministers would move to the bungalows provided by the government and insisted that they are given smaller government flats. The Delhi government ministers are entitled to five-bedroom, Type-8 government houses."
12.23 pm: AAP promises to probe corruption charges against Congress leaders
While BJP leaders shouted their lungs out, accusing AAP of being Congress' lackey, AAP leaders clarified that they will initiate probes ito corruption charges levelled against Congress ministers.
"If necessary we are willing to take action against Congress leaders if any cases of corruption are revealed. In fact, Arvind Kejrial has written to Sonia Gandhi saying clearly that the involvement of the previous Delhi government in the Commonwealth Games scandal will be probed. We are not taking an antagonistic stand but a principled one," AAP member Yogendra Yadav told CNN-IBN during a panel discussion.
9.27 am: Delhi Police in spot over Kejriwal's refusal to take Z-security cover
While Arvind Kejriwal's refusal to accept Z-category was perfectly in line with his party's of-for-by the common man posturing, it has left the Delhi Police in a spot. Following his elevation to the top political spot in Delhi, Kejriwal's vulnerability to attacks have increased, the Delhi Police believes. According to a report on The Times of India, the city's police force is confident that they will eventually convince AAP and Arvind Kejriwal to accept police protection. TOI reports:
"We are in talks with Kejriwal and will try to persuade him to accept security," special commissioner of police (security) J K Sharma told TOI. Officials in the home ministry hoped that Kejriwal being a responsible person, would understand that it was mandatory for a person holding such a responsible post to have security as per his threat perception.
9.14 am: Preparations for Kejriwal's swearing-in to start today?
Important logistical decisions regarding Arvind Kejriwal's swearing-in will be taken today. The swearing-in, slated to take place on 26 December in the Ramlila Maidan, will possibly see a mindboggling turn out. PTI reports:
Delhi Chief Secretary has called a meeting of senior officials on Tuesday to make preparations for the swearing-in ceremony of AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal after he conveyed his party's readiness to the Lt Governor to form a government in the national capital.
Sources in the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) said it has been asked to keep the Ramlila Ground in Central Delhi ready for the oath-taking ceremony on December 26 as Kejriwal had conveyed to Lt Governor Najeeb Jung that he would like to have the event at the "historic venue" where anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare had held massive protests to demand passing of the Jan Lokpal Bill.
At 26 years of age, Birla is not only the single woman member in Arvind Kejriwal's cabinet but also the youngest one. She's one of the three women to get elected to the Delhi Assembly
The master degree holder in Mass Communication has assets worth Rs 51,500 and education loans worth Rs 2,29,000 in her name.
On Monday, the former journalist was hounded by media people when she came out of the Constitution Club who kept demanding a quote from her. One journalist aggressively told her, "Madam media has made you and you have to give us a byte."
But she stood her ground and said, "If you talk to me like this do you think I will give you a quote."
However, she posed quite obligingly for a picture when Firstpost asked for one.
Firstpost
Politics Live: Congress may drop a bomb, might withdraw support to AAP
by Arun George 22 mins ago
#AAP #Arvind Kejriwal #BJP #Congress #Delhi #Delhi Election 2013 #Harsh Vardhan #Janata Dal United #Lieutenant Governor #NewsTracker #President's rule #Shiromani Akali Dal
inShare.0EmailPrint7.00 pm: Congress divided on support to AAP
New Delhi: Divisions in Congress today came out in the open over its support to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to form government in Delhi with a senior AICC functionary saying that the decision was "perhaps not correct".
Party general secretary Janardan Dwivedi's remarks came a day after scores of Congress supporters held a demonstration outside the DPCC office in protest on Monday against the party's decision to extend outside support to AAP to form the government in Delhi.
Ever since AAP decided to form a government in Delhi with Congress support, the leaders of Congress have been repeatedly emphasising that their support to AAP is not unconditional.
Sections in the party view that supporting AAP, which is hitting out at Congress day in and day out and threatening to book its leaders and ordering probes against them, makes the party look poor in peoples' eyes.
Moreover there is a view that Congress was caught napping as the leaders, who favoured supporting AAP to form government, were of the belief that Kejriwal will avoid staking claim to power.
Reflecting the unease within
Young Rakhi Birla had already emerged as a giant killer on 8 December when she defeated former Delhi minister and Congress leader Raj Kumar Chauhan in Delhi's Mangol Puri constituency by a margin of 10,585 votes.
At 26 years of age, Birla is not only the single woman member in Arvind Kejriwal's cabinet but also the youngest one. She's one of the three women to get elected to the Delhi Assembly.
The master degree holder in Mass Communication has assets worth Rs 51,500 and education loans worth Rs 2,29,000 in her name.
On Monday, the former journalist was hounded by media people when she came out of the Constitution Club who kept demanding a quote from her. One journalist aggressively told her, "Madam media has made you and you have to give us a byte."
But she stood her ground and said, "If you talk to me like this do you think I will give you a quote."
However, she posed quite obligingly for a picture when Firstpost asked for one.
6.40 pm: Infighting starts over cabinet berth, Vinod Kumar Binny miffed
Tensions have began in the Aam Aadmi Party soon after party leader Arvind Kejriwal announced the list of party MLAs in the Delhi Cabinet. Party MLA Vinod Kumar Binny, who met Kejriwal over berth in the Delhi Cabinet, said that he will hold a press conference on Wednesday. A former Congressman representing Laxmi Nagar, Binny did not feature in the list announced by Kejriwal for the Delhi Cabinet, CNN-IBN reported. He was with the Congress from 2009 to 2011 before joining the Jan Lokpal movement.
6.30 pm: AAP, Congress busy self-serving: Jaitley
New Delhi: BJP today alleged that Congress and AAP were collaborating to form government in a "self-serving" exercise with "dishonourable" motive, as Congress wanted a breather and feared another electoral humiliation while AAP was keen to prevent its MLAs from being "scattered".
Predicting that such a government will not last long, Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said, "Both Congress and the AAP have entered in to this political adjustment with a self serving motive.
"Each wants to outfox the other. The Congress wants the AAP to make a few mistakes so that it can recover its constituency and then force a poll."
In an article, Jaitley said that Congress has chosen to get insulted and become the B-team of AAP by supporting its government as in an event of an early re-election it would get squeezed out even more.
The BJP leader charged AAP with falling to the temptation of forming a government in Delhi to have a national presence. To achieve this, AAP resorted to a "farcical referendum" and went back on its commitment of not taking support of the Congress.
Congress, Jaitley maintained, is a clear loser in these elections with only eight seats.
"Congress cannot afford an early re-election. It needs breathing time to recover. If no government had been formed in Delhi, a re-election could have been held along with Lok Sabha polls. In that event, the ‘Modi factor’ would also have influenced the outcome of the polls," Jaitley said.
PTI
5.05 pm: Kejriwal picks team for Delhi cabinet
Delhi Chief Minister-designate Arvind Kejriwal has finalised his team that will be sworn in Delhi's Ramlila Maidan on 26 December. A CNN-IBN report said that former journalist Manish Sisodia, IIT graduate and lawyer Somnath Bharti, former journalist and activist Rakhi Birla, engineer Saurabh Bhardwaj and Girish Soni and Satyendra Jain will be part of the initial ministerial team.
3.05: Kejriwal to announce ministers on Wednesday
According to reports, President Pranab Mukherjee has already approved Kejriwal's appointment as the chief minister of Delhi and has forwarded a letter of appointment to a joint secretary level officer in the government, reports DNA. Senior IAS officer, Rajendra Kumar, is tipped to become the Principal Secretary to Arvind Kejriwal.
On the other hand, the AAP is all sent to name its ministers on Wednesday. Word is out that Prashant Bhushan, Manish Sisodia, Rakhi Birla are among the MLAs who will bag important ministries. IANS reports:
"The AAP will name its ministers in Delhi on Wednesday, party leader Manish Sisodia said Tuesday, a day after the AAP staked claim to form a government.
"The names will be announced tomorrow (Wednesday). It will be done before the swearing in ceremony takes place," Sisodia told the media. He added that the date for oath taking had not been finalized yet.
Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal has said he and his ministers will take oath at the Ramlila Maidan."
PTI further reports: "Meanwhile, newly elected AAP MLAs Rakhi Birla from Mangolpuri constituency, Somnath Bharti from Malviya Nagar and
Manish Sisodia from Patparganj, who are tipped to become Ministers, met Kejriwal."
1.50 pm: Digvijaya Singh congratulates Arvind Kejriwal
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh congratulated Arvind Kejriwal on his decision to form a government in Delhi with outside support from the Congress. "Success of Kejriwal should now encourage all those who are bitter critics of politics and politicians to participate in electoral politics," he said in a tweet. PTI reported that he has also said that he is sure Kejriwal will fulfill all the promises he has made to the voters.
1.40 pm: Kejriwal refuses official bungalow
After rejecting the Delhi Police's request to accept Z-level security, now Arvind Kejriwal has also announced that neither him, nor his ministers will be living in the official bungalows meant for the ministry.
A report on Hindustan Times says: "Kejriwal also decided that neither he nor any of his ministers would move to the bungalows provided by the government and insisted that they are given smaller government flats. The Delhi government ministers are entitled to five-bedroom, Type-8 government houses."
12.23 pm: AAP promises to probe corruption charges against Congress leaders
While BJP leaders shouted their lungs out, accusing AAP of being Congress' lackey, AAP leaders clarified that they will initiate probes ito corruption charges levelled against Congress ministers.
"If necessary we are willing to take action against Congress leaders if any cases of corruption are revealed. In fact, Arvind Kejrial has written to Sonia Gandhi saying clearly that the involvement of the previous Delhi government in the Commonwealth Games scandal will be probed. We are not taking an antagonistic stand but a principled one," AAP member Yogendra Yadav told CNN-IBN during a panel discussion.
9.27 am: Delhi Police in spot over Kejriwal's refusal to take Z-security cover
While Arvind Kejriwal's refusal to accept Z-category was perfectly in line with his party's of-for-by the common man posturing, it has left the Delhi Police in a spot. Following his elevation to the top political spot in Delhi, Kejriwal's vulnerability to attacks have increased, the Delhi Police believes. According to a report on The Times of India, the city's police force is confident that they will eventually convince AAP and Arvind Kejriwal to accept police protection. TOI reports:
"We are in talks with Kejriwal and will try to persuade him to accept security," special commissioner of police (security) J K Sharma told TOI. Officials in the home ministry hoped that Kejriwal being a responsible person, would understand that it was mandatory for a person holding such a responsible post to have security as per his threat perception.
9.14 am: Preparations for Kejriwal's swearing-in to start today?
Important logistical decisions regarding Arvind Kejriwal's swearing-in will be taken today. The swearing-in, slated to take place on 26 December in the Ramlila Maidan, will possibly see a mindboggling turn out. PTI reports:
Delhi Chief Secretary has called a meeting of senior officials on Tuesday to make preparations for the swearing-in ceremony of AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal after he conveyed his party's readiness to the Lt Governor to form a government in the national capital.
Sources in the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) said it has been asked to keep the Ramlila Ground in Central Delhi ready for the oath-taking ceremony on December 26 as Kejriwal had conveyed to Lt Governor Najeeb Jung that he would like to have the event at the "historic venue" where anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare had held massive protests to demand passing of the Jan Lokpal Bill.
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