Tag: AAP

Jharkhand Results Indicate That AAP Will Sweep Delhi Polls: Sanjay Singh.

Source – ndtv.com

New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh on Wednesday said that the Jharkhand Assembly poll results indicate that his party will come back to power for a second consecutive term in Delhi.

“It is evident that AAP will come back to power in Delhi with a thumping majority. The results of Jharkhand indicate that now elections will be fought on local issues. Today, inflation, education, health are real issues. We have worked on these issues in Delhi,” Mr Singh told reporters in Delhi.

“Jharkhand results indicate that the people of Delhi will make Kejriwal win with a big majority. People will vote for the work done,” he said.

In Jharkhand, BJP suffered a major defeat as Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-led alliance, including Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal, secured a comfortable majority bagging 47 seats in the 81-member Assembly.

Delhi, where 70 seats are at stake will go to poll early next year. In 2015, the ruling AAP registered a landslide victory by winning 67 seats.

Regional parties eye political pie in State polls.

Source – dailypioneer.com

Despite the NaMo wave in the country and the State, where the BJP repeated its 2014 feat of victory on 12 out of 14 Lok Sabh seats in 2019 General Elections, several regional and smaller political parties are enthusiastically eyeing to make their political ground in Jharkhand. So much so that a number of parties have already announced the number of seats, on which they will field their candidates.

While the Nitish Kumar led Janta Dal United has decided to go alone in State Assembly polls, terming its alliance with the National Democratic Alliance just for Lok Sabha polls, it has also made announcement of tentative candidates for about 14 seats in the State.

 The party that had two legislators in the third Assembly of the State, is eyeing its traditional voters alongwith the Kurmi voters, who play a significant role in Jharkhand politics.

The AAP Jharkhand unit has also got a shot in the arm after former Jharkhand cadre IPS officer and ex State in-charge of Congress Dr Ajoy Kumar joined the party recently. The party is also ready to contest elections on more than 40 seats and organising workers conferences across various Assembly segments.

“Our assessment of applications on 40-42 seats across the State is going on. It’s a process through which we finalise whether to contest elections on a particular seat or not. It mainly depends on the number of active workers in the area and also the background of applicants is checked before a name is finalised.

We have been organising workers conferences in Ranchi, Dhanbad, Jamshedpur and other prominent places of the State to boost the morale of workers,” said Rajesh Kumar, Spokesperson AAP, Jharkhand.Similarly, The Nationalist Congress Party, State unit has announced to contest elections on 30 seats in Jharkhand. Former Minister and State president of NCP Kamlesh Kumar Singh said that they were in constant touch with other opposition parties to get into an alliance.

 If there is an alliance, the NCM will contest on 10 seats. However, if the NCP is not in any alliance it will contest polls on 30 seats, he added.

The All India Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), which has won two Assembly seats in Maharashtra and one seat in Bihar in the recent elections, is also gearing up to field its candidates in the coming elections. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, who had recently organised a rally in the Capital city has been getting scores of letters and calls for candidature in the polls.

The AIMIM has recently announced that it will contest the State elections on 50 seats if there is no alliance with likeminded parties. The party has claimed that it will win at least 12 seats this time.

Ajoy Kumar, former Jharkhand Congress chief, may join Aam Aadmi Party

Source: hindustantimes.com

Former Jharkhand Congress chief Ajoy Kumar is set to quit the grand old party and join the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday, about three weeks after he was removed from the post.

Kumar was on August 26 replaced by former union minister and tribal leader Rameshwar Oraon the new Congress chief in poll-bound Jharkhand.Oraon, a 1972 batch retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, was 14 years senior in service to Kumar who resigned from the post on a bitter note.

In his August 9 resignation letter, 57-year-old Kumar, a 1986 batch IPS officer and once considered close to former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, had levelled serious allegations against his senior party colleagues, including Oraon, Subodh Kant Sahay, Pradeep Balmuchu and Furqan Ansari.

He had accused them of placing “personal interests” above the party and “indulging in corrupt” practices. A former Lok Sabha MP from Jamsedhpur, Kumar was appointed the Jharkhand Congress chief in November 2017.

The Congress in Jharkhand is a divided house with factionalism taking a heavy toll on the party in the recent national elections, winning just one of the total 14 Lok Sabha seats from the state. Its alliance partner Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) also managed to bag just one seat.

Though the Congress is likely to continue its alliance with the JMM for the assembly polls too, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is on a strong wicket following its stupendous performance in the Lok Sabha elections, winning 11 seats. Its ally AJSU Party secured one seat.

Kumar will be tasked with the responsibility of expanding the AAP base in the tribal-dominated state.

In setback for Congress, its former Jharkhand unit chief joins AAP

Source: livemint.com

New Delhi: The former chief of the Jharkhand unit of the Congress, Ajoy Kumar, joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday, in the first casualty for the Congress after a change in the top leadership. Kumar’s induction into AAP comes less than six weeks after he resigned from the top post of the Congress’ Jharkhand unit.

The move comes ahead of the assembly elections in Jharkhand scheduled later this year, and in Delhi, which is likely to take place in early 2020.

AAP is in power in Delhi, with party chief Arvind Kejriwal as the chief minister. They, however, do not have a significant presence in Jharkhand where the state’s politics is dominated by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition alliance of the Congress and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha.

“Today I am joining AAP because of the political situation in the country. AAP is practising the politics of good governance and no corruption. There are a lot of people from Bihar and Jharkhand, from where I come, who have moved to Delhi and have benefitted from the government’s schemes in the areas of health and education. The money they save because of free water and electricity, they are able to use elsewhere,” Kumar said. “People of India who do not have any connection with politics have entered this area and are making people see how clean politics can be.”

Kumar joined the party in the presence of AAP leader and deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, party chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj, and senior leader Durgesh Pathak.

“An important politician has joined AAP today. He has served the country as an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer and a parliamentarian. We have known each other since the days of the India Against Corruption movement. He will work in other states as well as in Delhi where the AAP has a presence,” Sisodia said.

Kumar had resigned as the Jharkhand unit chief of the Congress last month amid a leadership crisis in the state unit. Kumar had alleged that many senior leaders were seeking “to grab political posts for personal benefit and have made attempts to bypass the systems that have been put in place to benefit the party”.

Separately, on Thursday, Delhi speaker Ram Niwas Goel disqualified legislator Alka Lamba from the assembly after she resigned from the party and joined the Congress.

Kumar has a medical degree and has served as an IPS officer in Bihar and Jharkhand. He was considered close to Rahul Gandhi and was handpicked to lead the party in Jharkhand.