Kejriwal, whose year-old party swept to power in Delhi in local elections in December, is working on a national campaign that is likely to split votes for the governing Congress party and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

On Friday, he read from a sheet of paper the names of more than two dozen powerful politicians from across the political spectrum and said his party would field strong candidates against them in the polls due by May.

“Suresh Kalmadi. Should we defeat him or not?” Kejriwal asked a meeting of party leaders to cheers.

Kalmadi was arrested in April 2011 on charges of inflating tenders for equipment used at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, which he headed, and served nine months in prison.

All the politicians Kejriwal has accused have denied any charges of corruption. Cases take years, if not decades, to wind through India’s notoriously slow judicial system.

The AAP’s success in Delhi has led to huge interest in Kejriwal and the party up and down India, where voters seem to be thirsty for change after 10 years of scandal-prone rule by a Congress party-led coalition.

The AAP has only recently begun operating outside the capital and its strength is untested.

Kejriwal’s party will contest at least 350 seats of the 543 lower house of parliament seats, senior party member Sanjay Singh said at a news conference on Thursday.

ATTACKS

An opinion poll conducted early this month suggested the party may only pick up a dozen seats. Its main support is in Delhi and surrounding states such as Haryana and Punjab, polls shows.

Kejriwal on Friday named cabinet ministers, including Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram, Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid and Oil Minister Veerappa Moily.

“If we don’t defeat Veerappa Moily, then from April 1 gas and electricity prices will double,” said Kejriwal, who has offered free water and slashed power prices in Delhi since coming to office.

He also attacked the BJP leader Narendra Modi, who polls show is voters’ favourite candidate for prime minister.

Rahul Gandhi, scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty who is leading the Congress party in the campaign, was also cited as an election target although he is not embroiled in any scandal.

Politics in India, the world’s largest democracy, has been plagued by corruption and other problems. About 30 percent of lawmakers across the federal and state legislatures face criminal charges, many for serious crimes such as rape, murder and kidnapping.

Many questions focus on the source of funding for political campaigns. More than 90 percent of funding for the Congress and the BJP comes from unknown sources, according to the advocacy group Association for Democratic Reforms.

But corruption has rarely been an election issue until now. Scandals have come thick and fast on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s watch in the last few years and Kejriwal’s party has quickly tapped into the public disgust over sleaze.

Last month, Mr Kejriwal barred foreign retailers from setting up shop in Delhi, a blow to  the union government’s efforts to attract overseas investment and revive the economy.  Kejriwal’s government has also offered free water and slashed electricity prices, moves critics have derided as populist and dangerous.

He spoke about his economic policies in this interview.

Can you share some of your thoughts on the economy? Do you see the Aam Aadmi Party as a socialist party?

We actually don’t understand all that – socialism, communalism, capitalism, right, left, centre. We are common people, we have our own problems and we want solutions. If someone comes and tells me I have a problem of water, if someone comes and tells me that, hey look, there is a solution in Left, we will be very happy to borrow it from there. Or if someone else comes and says, look, there is a solution in Right, there is a solution in capitalism, we will borrow it from there. We are not wedded to any ideology.

You’re an expert on tax. What do you think…

I think it ought to be simplified to a large extent. It has been made so complex, and in Delhi, we will try some experiment. Today only we had long meetings on can we do some very bold experiments in Delhi as far as taxation is concerned.

Such as?

I can’t disclose right now.

Why not?

Because we haven’t finalised it as yet.

You talk about simplifying tax policy. Will that be in line with the general service tax proposal?

That’s also interesting. That’s also important.

What about BJP talking about abolishing the income tax proposal. Is that a good idea?

No, I don’t think so. Indirect taxes are inflationary. As economy grows, indirect taxes ought to come down. And it’s only the direct taxes which remain the main source of revenue. And that’s the trend of modern developed countries so you can’t abolish income tax.

How do you propose generally in Delhi to finance your proposals such as reducing the cost of power and issuing some free water. At least in the medium term, there will be a government burden on the subsidy, right?

How much is it? The total budget of Delhi government is 40,000 crore rupees ($6.4 billion). The subsidies that I have announced is 242 crore rupees ($38.7 million). Still there is such a hue and cry. I’m told that golf course in Delhi, the cost of that land is, someone told me, is I-don’t-know-how-many-thousand crores of rupees, the land that has been given to golf course. And it has been given to them at 15 lakh rupees ($24,000) a month. So when you subsidize the rich in this country, no one minds that. But when you say that we will provide subsidized electricity to the poor people in the country, or when we say that we’ll provide subsidized water to the poor people, all hell breaks loose.

Do you think the private sector has an important role to play in the Indian economy?

I think at a very broad level the government has no business to be in business. The government should leave business to the private sector. We have to encourage private enterprise and I think India is a country of entrepreneurs. In India, almost every person is a born entrepreneur – a rickshaw-wallah is an entrepreneur, a farmer is an entrepreneur. This entire business and industry is shackled in the rules and regulations – we need to free them from all these rules and regulations. We need to provide them a free environment, honest environment, to do business. If we provide them a good environment, I think India will go ahead leaps and bounds

How are you planning to do that?

All that you need are good intentions. In Delhi for instance, in the last few days we have had meetings on how to simplify the trade in Delhi, on VAT in Delhi, and they are good ideas. So you talk to the people who are facing the problem and they will tell you ‘Sir, this is the problem.’ And you apply your mind and the solutions are there, it is not rocket science. Intentions of the people who are governing the system were wrong till now. If you have honest intentions, the solutions are there.

Your manifesto included not having FDI in retail in Delhi. Do you oppose FDI in retail at the national level?

Firstly, we are not against FDI per se, we are not saying FDI should not be in any sector. I think this is something that the decision has to be taken on a sector-to-sector basis. Can you give me a few examples where FDI in retail has been successful in some countries? In how many countries FDI is there in retail?

I think it depends on your definition of success. And it has become dominant in many, many countries.

Three or four arguments are being given in favour of FDI in retail. One it is said, it would provide huge choices for the consumers. I admit that. Second is that it will provide better prices to the farmers. I dispute that. If you can give me any empirical evidence, this is an evidence that can be taken from various countries. Third, is they’re saying, that on one hand farmers would get better prices, on the other hand, customers would get cheaper goods. If you could give me the evidence of that. My party did a lot of research. In U.S. itself, Wal-Mart is facing so much of resistance, right? It has led to so much of unemployment in many countries. In India, when we are struggling so much – there are a large number of people who throng my office every day and they say ‘please give me a government job’ – people are looking for jobs, people are jobless. We can’t have a model where people end up losing jobs rather than getting jobs.

The meeting has been scheduled for Thursday evening on the sidelines of a reception in the German Embassy premises. However, the format and contours of the meeting are yet to be finalized, diplomatic sources told ET.

When the German Embassy approached the Delhi CM’s office for a meeting between Kejriwal and Gauck during his six-day visit beginning Tuesday, it returned disappointed. However, when German Ambassador Michael Steiner met Kejriwal during the President’s At Home programme on January 26, the Delhi CM promised to take out some time to meet Gauck, said people familiar with the development.

Gauck has a strong background in civil society movements as a pastor in the erstwhile East Germany during the Communist Party rule .

“I was not sure about the vote of confidence when I took office. I said that we have only 48 hours. We have kept our promise on water and electricity. Power rates are down. The water promise has been fulfilled. Our next aim is to bring Jan Lokpal and Swaraj. We are working day and night for people,” said Arvind Kejriwal.

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‘I am not a danger for our Constitution’
Kejriwal also said that he has a lot of respect for the Indian Constitution. He said Fundamental Rights such as right to equality, right to live safely were the main souls of our Constitution and added that it was made to protect the Fundamental Rights of the citizens.

“The Constitution was not made to protect a minister. It is not in danger because of us,” he said.

‘I want Delhi Police to be more accountable’
Kejriwal asserted that his main aim is not to contest polls and win them for power but to empower the people. He also claimed that corruption has reduced in Delhi in last 30 days and the winds of change are blowing now. The Delhi CM said that laws were made to eliminate corruption and not to protect it.

“I am not against our institutions but I want them to be more accountable. Similarly I am not against Delhi Police. When I demanded to sack the SHO, I just wanted to make it more accountable. Accountability and corruption can’t go hand in hand. All the SHOs say they give protection money,” he said.

He maintained that corruption is the biggest issue for the government.

‘I am not a weak CM’
Kejriwal defended his protest outside Rail Bhavan and said that he is not a weak Chief Minister. He said that staging dharna doesn’t make anyone weak and only a strong person can sacrifice luxuries and comforts.

Kejriwal said his two-day sit-in was not unconstitutional.

“I staged a sit-in to raise the issue of women’s security. It is not unconstitutional,” he said.

‘BJP and Congress based on corruption’
The Delhi CM also hit out at BJP and Congress and alleged that both the parties are promoting crony capitalism and they are based on corruption.

“The Aam Aadmi Party is formed the give clean politics to our country. Honest and clean politics will help in providing good education, health and infrastructure,” Kejriwal said.

“We will bring rule of people. The Aam Aadmi Party talks about issues important to the people,” he said.

‘Somnath Bharti has done nothing wrong’
Kejriwal also defended his beleaguered Law Minister Somnath Bharti and said he has done nothing wrong.

“Somnath was pleading to Delhi Police to take action against the people involved in a sex racket. I found no evidence against him. The BJP and Congress are trying to politicise the situation. Somanth Bharti will remain in my Cabinet. I am not going to remove him. However, Somanth needs to be more patient. He should not use foul language.” he said.

‘We have achieved a lot in 30 days’
The Delhi CM claimed no other party has managed to perform the way his has in the past one month. “No other government has managed to get as much work done as ours,” said Kejriwal.

“We have stopped the VIP culture. There are no red beacon cars, no security. Power rates are down. The water promise has been fulfilled. We have ordered a CAG audit of power discoms. 5,500 autos were given NCR permits. We have started the anti-corruption helpline, which has been a huge success,” he said.

You can read aap party latest news here.

Earlier Today we had shared a news about corrupt DJB officials. Read this news

https://aapnewslive.in/breaking-trouble-corrupt-djb-officials-starts-arvind-kejriwal-alleged-scams/

Kejriwal won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership in 2006 for his contribution to the enactment of the Right to Information Act. In 2006, after resigning from the IRS, he donated his Magsaysay award money as a corpus fund to found an NGO, Public Cause Research Foundation. In 2012, he launched the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and he defeated Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit in her constituency in the 2013 Delhi Legislative Assembly election. Following the election, he took office as Chief Minister of Delhi on 28 December 2013.

Early and personal life

Kejriwal was born in the village of Siwani, Haryana, on 16 August 1968 to Gobind Ram Kejriwal and Gita Devi, a well-educated and well-off couple. He has a younger sister and a brother. His father was an electrical engineer who graduated from the Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, and whose work led to many changes in the family’s residence. Kejriwal spent most of his childhood in north Indian towns such as Sonepat, Ghaziabad and Hisar. He was educated at Campus School in Hisar.

Kejriwal studied mechanical engineering at Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur and then from 1989 he worked for Tata Steel. He left that job in 1992, having previously taken leave of absence in order to study for the Civil Services Examination, and spent some time in Kolkata, at the Ramakrishna Mission in North-East India and at Nehru Yuva Kendra.

Kejriwal is married to Sunita, who is also an IRS officer and his batchmate from National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie and the National Academy of Direct Taxes in Nagpur. The couple have a daughter and a son. Kejriwal is a vegetarian. He has been practicing Vipassana for many years.

Early career

Kejriwal joined the Indian Revenue Service in 1995 after qualifying through the Civil Services Examination. In 2000, he was granted two years’ paid leave to pursue higher education on condition that upon resuming his work he would not resign from the Service for at least three years. Failure to abide by that condition would require him to repay the salary given during the leave period. He rejoined in 2003 and worked for 18 months before taking unpaid leave for 18 months. In February 2006, he resigned from his position as a Joint Commissioner of Income Tax in New Delhi. The Government of India claimed that Kejriwal had violated his original agreement by not working for three years. Kejriwal said that his 18 months of work and 18 months of unpaid absence amounted to the stipulated three year period during which he could not resign and that this was an attempt to malign him due to his involvement with Team Anna, a strand of the Indian anti-corruption movement. The dispute ran for several year until, in 2011, it was resolved when he paid his way out of the Service with the help of loans from friends.

Activism

Parivartan

Kejriwal believes “Change begins with small things”. In December 1999, while still in service with the Income Tax Department, he helped found a movement named Parivartan (which means “change”), focused on assisting citizens in navigating income tax, electricity and food ration matters in parts of Delhi. The Parivartan organisation exposed a fake ration card scam in 2008 but, according to a founder member, did not have a great impact generally and was largely moribund by 2012.

Right to Information

Together with Manish Sisodia and Abhinandan Sekhri, Kejriwal established the Public Cause Research Foundation in December 2006, donating the prize money he had received from the Ramon Magsaysay Award as a seed fund. This new body paid the employees of Parivartan.

Kejriwal has used the Right to Information Act in corruption cases in many government departments including the Income Tax Department, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the Public Distribution System and the Delhi Electricity Board.

Jan Lokpal Bill

Kejriwal was the civil society representative member of the committee constituted by the Government of India to draft a Jan Lokpal bill, following a campaign for introduction of such legislation that featured Anna Hazare. He had been arrested for his support of Hazare.

Political career

Kejriwal established the AAP in November 2012 as he believed that electoral politics was the next logical step in the fight against corruption. The party name reflects the phrase Aam Aadmi, or “common man”, whose interests Kejriwal proposed to represent.

He became one of the five most mentioned Indian politicians on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter in the run-up to the Delhi legislative assembly election, 2013. This was the first election contested by the AAP.

Chief Minister

In the Delhi election, Kejriwal defeated incumbent Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit in her constituency of New Delhi by a margin of 25,864 votes. The party as a whole won 28 of the 70 available seats, finishing in second place.

The AAP then announced its intention to form a minority government in the hung parliament, with what Dikshit described as “not unconditional” support from the Indian National Congress. Kejriwal was sworn in as the second-youngest chief minister of Delhi on 28 December 2013, after Chaudhary Brahm Prakash who became chief minister at the age of 34. He is in charge of Delhi’s Home Ministry, Power, Planning, Finance, Vigilance ministries.

Anarchist

On January 20, 2014 he described himself as an anarchist and asked his supporters to break the law to protest in New Delhi against the India Government for not suspending three cops from Delhi Police.

Sources say six issues are under consideration at the CM office, including the public-private partnership projects at Malviya Nagar, Nangloi and Vasant Vihar/Mehrauli, acquisition of water meters, issuing tenders for operation and maintenance at Bhagirathi water treatment plant and operation of the new stainless steel tankers. Read Latest news of Aam Aadmi Party Here.

“The chief minister is also the chairperson of DJB. He was familiar with the issues before he became the chief minister and has studied the files. These six projects are responsible for Rs 10,000-crore scam and could implicate former chief minister Sheila Dikshit as she had been appraised about the irregularities,” alleged a source.

In the PPP cases, sources said there were major irregularities in awarding of work.

“DJB is paying the private companies much more than it costs DJB itself to treat and supply water. For instance, it is paying Degremont Rs 10 per kilolitre at Malviya Nagar, Rs 15 per kl to Veolia at Nangloi and Rs 7 to SPML for the Vasant Vihar/Mehrauli project. It costs DJB Rs 6.54 per kl to treat and supply water which also includes electricity charges,” said a source.

DJB is also reportedly paying 7-8 times more to operators of the new stainless steel tankers for water distribution than it pays to operators of the older tankers. Sources said that there was no justification for the exorbitant rates especially since the new tankers were meant to increase efficiency and lead to preservation of water. All Breaking news of AAP can be read here.

“The rehabilitation work at Bhagirathi has also been carried out without tenders. The new water meters have been bought at escalated rates. The water utility has failed to give any justification for the ad hoc rates. The CM is waiting for officials in the anti-corruption branch to change, for which he has also written to the LG. Once that happens, several senior DJB members will be in trouble,” said a government source.

Urban Development Minister Manish Sisodia With CM Arvind Kejriwal and Kumar Viswas

On Thursday, chief secretary S.K. Srivastava wrote a letter to the divisional commissioner and principal secretary (revenue), Dharam Pal, asking all deputy commissioners to fix boundaries of the 1,600-odd colonies in a time bound manner. What is surprising is that in 2012, the Sheila Dikshit government had announced regularisation of about 895 unauthorised colonies and which was carried out a year later.

Now, carrying out the process of fixing the boundaries of the 1,600-odd colonies, including the 895 regularised by the Congress, has raised a question mark on the exercise carried out by the Dikshit government. A senior government official said “boundaries of those colonies which were announced for regularization were fixed only on the basis of maps. It was not done on the ground level.”

Confirming the development, Dharam Pal said the deputy commissioners have been told to work on the layout plan of all the 1,600- odd unauthorised colonies. “This time boundaries will be fixed on the ground and the exercise will include all the colonies. It is a massive exercise,” the official added.

On Friday, a meeting was held at the Delhi secretariat on the issue. The meeting was chaired by state Urban Development Minister Manish Sisodia and was attended by the divisional commissioner and deputy
commissioners.

The regularisation process by the previous Congress government had attracted controversies as Opposition parties alleged that it was done in a hurry without carrying out proper development work in these colonies.

Thereafter, in its October 2013 report, the CAG too had raised questions about the regularisation process.

The CAG draft report mentioned a February 2006 Supreme Court order which said if the state cannot provide basic services to an unauthorised colony, there shall be no regularisation. The CAG went on to provide data making it evident that regularisation was in violation of the SC order.

Even as a muffler-wrapped, sweater spotting Arvind Kejriwal sleeps in a rajai in the middle of a road, the picture of a casually dressed Uruguayan President José Mujica has gone viral with many calling him the people’s president. Beating the protocol and perhaps the convention, Mujica was spotted in a shirt, pant and slippers during an official programme of the country. This is not quite a picture when you think of a president. But Mujica is known to live a simple life without the usual paraphernalia associated with heads of states.

A former guerrilla and Marxist, the Uruguayan President’s belief in an egalitarian society has impressed many. So much so that the Economist has named Uruguay as the country of the year for 2013. The Foreign Policy featured him in the list of its 100 Leading Global Thinkers. Mujica lives in a cottage, drives a Beetle and donates 90 per cent of his earnings for charity. The donations are reported to benefit the poor and small entrepreneurs.

Mujica, who didn’t opt to live in the opulent presidential palace and use its staff, has now become popular as the world’s poorest president for leading an austere life. Under his leadership, Uruguay passed the groundbreaking gay marriage act and legalised cultivation and sale of marijuana. The marijuana law is aimed at fighting the illegal drug trade.

An Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) statement said the Delhi unit would “look after all political activities” in the city.

Talwar would be its convenor and Pathak the co-convenor. Pandey would be the secretary. The Delhi unit would be responsible for the preparations for the Lok Sabha election this year.

AAP sources told IANS that although the party rules Delhi, it had no formal Delhi unit until now. “This has now been formalized,” said a source speaking on the condition of anonymity. Stay tuned for latest news and updates of AAP.

Delhi’s affairs were being looked after by a nine-member Political Affairs Committee and a two-member sub-committee thus far.

The AAP, however, has an office in the heart of Delhi. But its main — and older — office is in Ghaziabad adjoining Delhi, close to where Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal lives.