Shatrughan Sinha praises AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, calls him a good man

Just two days to go for Delhi polls, but Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal seems to be getting support from unexpected corners. Moments after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday urged the people of Delhi to vote for AAP, BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha has too joined the bandwagon in AAP's praise.

                              


"Arvind Kejriwal is a good man, and AAP's prospects are bright," Sinha said, adding "Everyone is talking about AAP, newspapers are flooded with them, TV channels are discussing them, means that they are popular."
He said, "Fight in Delhi is between Kiran Bedi, who has a clean image and has been a good officer, and Arvind Kejriwal, who too has a clean image."
The negative campaigning that I've been observing in Delhi politics is unfortunate, we must not indulge in mud-slinging, the leader was quoted as saying.
Comparing Bedi with BJP leader Harsh Vardhan, he however said, "Harsh Vardhan would have been a better choice for Delhi CM candidate."
In a surprise move, Mamata Banerjee on Thursday urged the people of Delhi to vote for AAP. "My request to all of you in Delhi to please vote for AAP," she tweeted, adding, "For the greater need of the country and development in Delhi."
On Wednesday, the CPI(M) too had announced their support to AAP and asked their supporters to vote for Arvind Kejriwal. AAP and BJP are the main contenders for power in Saturday's election for the 70-member Delhi assembly.

5 questions BJP has asked Arvind Kejriwal

Just hours after a crucial meeting of the BJP to draw up a final battle plan for the Delhi assembly polls, party leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy on Thursday shot five questions at Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal, highlighting his supposed "failure to keep up his promise" to the people.
At Thursday's strategic meeting, the BJP had decided to deploy over 120 MPs from various states to beef up the party's poll campaign in the capital. It also decided to field five questions daily to AAP leader until the elections.

                                 
At the ensuing press conference on Thursday afternoon, Rudy fielded five questions for Kejriwal.
1. Why use security despite pledging not to?
2. Why use metro once only and then use official car?
3. Why did you use private jet for personal use?
4. Why did AAP take Congress support to form government? and
5. Why no action was taken against Sheila Dikshit?
Apparently, the BJP has decided to go into a full battle mode in a bid to counter the AAP and secure a majority in the Delhi elections due on February 7.
Several important decisions were taken at the party's strategy meeting at the party headquarters on Thursday. It was attended by several top leaders of the party and was chaired by party chief Amit Shah.
The party has roped in 120 MPs and hundreds of party workers from 13 states to Delhi to run the election campaign as it reached feverish pitch.
There will be 250 BJP rallies in the city in the next few days and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address four of them.
"We will do micro-management of the elections. We will be fighting for two-third majority," Bangalore South MP and senior party leader Ananth Kumartold reporters after the meeting.
There will also be daily assessment of the campaign, he said.
The party however will not release a manifesto, but only "a vision document."

BJP spent over Rs.714 cr, Congress Rs.516 cr in 2014 elections

BJP and Congress spent over Rs.714 crore and Rs.516 crore respectively in 2014 general elections and recent Assembly polls in various states.

According to latest data of Election Commission (EC), both the national parties' expenditure in 2014 Lok Sabha polls and Assembly election in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim is way ahead of the spendings by recognised national parties like NCP (over Rs.51 crore) and BSP (more than Rs.30 crore).

While the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) spent a total of Rs.7,14,28,57,813, the Congress shelled out Rs.5,16,02,36,785.

Both the parties have recently submitted their expenditure statements to the EC, well beyond the stipulated deadline of August 2014.

The EC, in November last, had issued showcause notices to both the national parties and few other regional parties in this regard.

                                      

EC records state that while the BJP filed its statement on January 12 this year, the Congress submitted the same to the poll-panel on December 22, 2014.

The data pertains to six recognised national political parties of BJP, Congress, BSP, CPI, CPI (M) and the NCP. The NCP spent over Rs.51 crore while BSP stated that it spent over Rs.30 crore for the same polls exercise in 2014r.

According to the data, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) spent a total of Rs.51,34,44,854 in these polls followed by Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) with an expenditure of Rs.30,05,84,822. CPI (Marxist) incurred an expenditure of Rs.18,69,18,169.

The EC has not shared the expenditure made in this regard by CPI even though it said that the party had submitted the relevant information to it on September 15, 2014.

EC had on November 28 issued showcause notices to 20 political parties, including Congress, BJP and Aam Aadmi Party, for failing to file their poll expenditure statements for these elections within the stipulated timeframe.

EC had also warned these parties that it would withdraw their recognition if the statements were not filed and sent to it within the next fortnight.

As per rules, political parties are required to file their election expenditure statements within 75 days of Assembly elections while the deadline in case of Lok Sabha polls is 90 days.

Amar Singh with Jaya Prada, Kiran Bedi and Shazia Ilmi, All looking at BJP

Former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Kiran Bedi, former Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Prada, her mentor and fellow RLD leader Amar Singh, and former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Shazia Ilmi are expected to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday. The formal announcement is expected to be made at a press conference to be addressed by party chief Amit Shah shortly.

Amar Singh, who offers a package deal to the BJP with Jaya, said, " We (Jaya Prada and me) are in touch with everybody. We had met BJP's Om Mathur and Prabhat Jha. I am also an old friend of (Finance Minister) Arun Jaitley."

"I want to work under PM Modi's leadership as a normal worker. I am not aiming for any kind of post," she said.

                                

Sources in the BJP said the three women are also expected to contest the February 7 Delhi Assembly elections. There are strong rumours about Jaya being fielded opposite AAP chief and former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal from the prestigious New Delhi constituency.

There is also speculation about Bedi, an active supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in TV debates, as the BJP's chief ministerial candidate. Bedi, along with Kejriwal, was one of the prominent faces of the India Against Corruption campaign led by Gandhian activist Anna Hazare.

Jaya Prada, the other possible high-profile entrant to the party, had lost the 2014 Lok Sabha polls from Bijnor seat in Uttar Pradesh. Along with her mentor Amar Singh, the actor-turned-politician had joined Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) in 2014. She was an MP from the Rampur parliamentary seat in UP twice in 2004 and 2009.

Jaya is said to be in touch with the BJP for a long time now. She reportedly met party chief Amit Shah recently.

The third high profile woman expected to join the BJP on Thursday, Shazia Ilmi, on Wednesday said she will campaign for the party in the Delhi Assembly elections. Ilmi had quit the AAP last year, accusing the party of lacking democracy within and its chief Arvind Kejriwal of cultivating cronies around him. She had recently joined Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, raising speculations of her joining the saffron party.

Ilmi had contested the 2013 Delhi Assembly elections from the RK Puram constituency which she lost to BJP's Anil Sharma by a thin margin of 326 votes. She also lost the 2014 general elections from Ghaziabad against former Army chief General VK Singh.

Elections to the Delhi Assembly are to be held on February 7 and the counting of votes will be done on February 10. The BJP has not yet declared its list of candidates for the polls and is expected to do this by the end of this week.

Modi's magic over? BJP loses all 7 seats in Varanasi cantonment polls

In a major shock to the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, all the party candidates were defeated in the cantonment board elections of Varanasi on Monday.

As per reports, independent candidates have emerged winners in all seven wards.

The polling took place on Sunday amid unprecedented security.

The cantonment board area comes under PM Modi's Lok Sabha constituency.

At least 36 candidates had contested the polls in all seven wards. Nearly 15 thousand voters had cast their votes in Sunday's polling.

In Lucknow cantonment board, considered to be a fortress of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP lost on all eight seats.

The setback has come at a time when the BJP is banking on Modi's magic to register victory in Delhi Assembly polls.