Former Star TV CEO joins Aam Aadmi Party
Sameer Nair, former CEO of Star TV and an independent media entrepreneur at present, on Friday joined AAP to support its Delhi election campaign. A statement from the AAP said Nair has been associated since the Janlokpal campaign that started under the leadership of Anna Hazare. “He has been following AAP since its launch and wanted to contribute in the ‘change’ that AAP is trying. People from all walks of life like doctors, engineers, teachers, students, activists have come out to support AAP,” it said. “like many media professionals in Mumbai, I am also a supporter of Janlokpal and now AAP. I have joined the party to offer my expertise to AAP,” said Nair. He said that
being a Mumbai resident he can’t vote in Delhi elections but has been asking all his friends, relatives and acquaintances in the national Capital to vote for AAP. Party’s national convenor Arvind Kejriwal welcomed Nair and exhorted people to come out and support the party.
Dikshit exhorts youth to support Congress
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Friday exhorted youth to support the Congress party in the coming Assembly polls on December 4 in the national Capital. Addressing a Youth Congress workers convention at Talkatora Stadium on Friday, the Chief Minister has beseeched youth to ensure victory of the Congress party in the Assembly elections and if youth power decides to vote for Congress, she would form the Government for the fourth consecutive term in Delhi. Dikshit said that the Congress is committed to fulfil the aspirations of the youth in the country and party’s vice-president Rahul Gandhi has been stimulating workers to join hands in order to defeat the opportunist and communal forces out to weaken the nation. The Chief Minister also stated that it was the Congress which gave voting rights to the youth at the age of 18. Congress general secretary and in-charge of Delhi affairs Shakeel Ahmed, Delhi Congress president Jai Prakash Agarwal and East Delhi MP Sandeep Dikshit also addressed the gathering.
EC wants adherence to Model Code of Conduct
Following the direction of Election Commission of India (ECI), Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi has held a high level meeting with political parties at New Delhi convention centre on Friday and made it clear that Model Code of Conduct will be strictly followed during the election. The ECI assured political parties to reconsider the rate chart of various items to be used by political parties during election campaigning. After the meeting, Delhi Chief Electoral Officer Vijay Dev clarified that the rate chart of various items were finalised after assessment and consultation with political parties and prevailing market rates. “They are ready to call meeting of political parties again on this issue,” he said. During the meeting, representatives of political parties expressed disappointment over rates fixed by the Commission for calculating expenditure by the candidates. A number of political parties, including Congress, BJP and AAP, had approached the Election Commission of India (ECI) expressing dissatisfaction over enforcement of Model Code of Conduct by various agencies and restrictions imposed on publicity campaigns.
BJP demands probe into foreign tax havens
The Delhi BJP on Friday demanded a high level probe into the allegations of unaccounted money stashed in foreign tax havens like the British Virgin Islands by the wife of Delhi’s Power Secretary RK Verma. The BJP has demanded that the Delhi Government should meet the Election Commission and seek immediate removal of the Power Secretary as exceptional circumstances have arisen after the sensational exposé on the stashing away of huge amounts of unaccounted money. “This is an exceptional situation where it has come to light that the spouse of Power Secretary of Delhi, despite being a homemaker, has unaccounted money reportedly deposited in the tax havens overseas. It cannot be a mere coincidence that a massive power scam is going on under the current Power Secretary,” alleged Delhi BJP president Vijay Goel. He also demanded that the call detail records of Power Secretary should be immediately made public that would expose his nexus with political leaders.
Kejriwal ‘most preferred choice’ for CM
In a fresh survey conducted by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), it claimed to have emerged as the most preferred choice for the upcoming Assembly elections leading with 32 seats followed by Congress with 28 and BJP with 10 seats. With a sample of nearly 35,000 people, (approx 500 voters each in 70 constituencies) the survey result was read out by the party member and psephologist Yogendra Yadav during a media briefing in the Capital on Friday. In terms of percentage, 33 per cent people preferred AAP, 28 per cent preferred Congress and 24 per cent preferred BJP, said Yadav. The party also claimed that as per the survey, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal was the most preferred choice for Chief Minister with 38 per cent votes followed by Sheila Dikshit and Vijay Goel at 30 per cent and 23 per cent respectively. “The Aam Aadmi Party is growing with a great momentum and is much stronger among men and the upper castes in the Capital, compared to other parties,” said Yadav, while reading out the survey results.