Delhi elections: AAP rejects Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid Syed Bukhari's support

New Delhi: The Shahi Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, on Friday appealed to people to vote for the AAP in the election to the Delhi Assembly but the offer of support was swiftly rejected by Arvind Kejriwal’s party.

"We don't need the support of a man who did not invite India's prime minister but invited Pakistan's prime minister for his son's anointment. One has to respect the prime minister of the country," senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Ashutosh told a news conference.

During his sermon at the Friday prayers, the controversial Shahi Imam had called on people to vote for the AAP in the polls on Saturday. The AAP and the BJP are the main contenders for power in the elections.

But AAP leaders described Bukhari's politics as “regressive and communal” and condemned the ideology he represents.

"AAP wants to finish off communal politics. We want to finish off what the imam stands for. We want the support of every common man," said AAP leader Ashish Khaitan.

BJP leader Arun Jaitley too reacted to Bukhari’s remarks by saying: "Shahi Imam Bukhari's diktat to support the AAP may backfire." 

Last year, Bukhari had sent an invitation to Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif for a ceremony to appoint his son as his successor. He had also said he was not inviting prime minister Narendra Modi as he had “no place” in his heart for the BJP leader.

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Feel sorry for Kiran Bedi, BJP has 'gagged' its CM candidate: Kejriwal

New Delhi: Exuding confidence that his party will come to power in Delhi, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal said on Monday the BJP had pressed the "panic button" and was now resorting to "politics of poison" to avoid a defeat.

Five days ahead of the voting to the 70-member Delhi assembly, Kejriwal predicted that the Congress will not win even a single seat which will obviate the need for him to take that party's support as he had done in 2013 to form his short-lived 49-day government.

The significance of election in Delhi went far beyond its borders and that was why the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was fielding its "big guns" for the campaigning, the former Delhi chief minister told PTI in an interview.

"They have pressed the panic button and that is why you see all these big guns campaigning for the party," he said, and accused them of resorting to personal attacks against him, his family and the community he belongs to. "This shows their (BJP's) desperation and frustration."

Referring to an attack on a South Delhi church Monday morning, he said this was in keeping with the pattern adopted by the BJP in Uttar Pradesh where the electorate was polarised at the time of last year's Lok Sabha elections and bypolls.

"This is what is the politics of BJP. They will try to polarise the society... We do politics of love and affection and they (BJP) do politics of poison," he said.

Responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's argument that it would be good to have a BJP government in Delhi which will work in tandem with BJP-led government at the Centre, he said he would work with Modi in a "constructive" spirit if his party comes to power.

On his rival chief ministerial candidate BJP's Kiran Bedi, with whom he worked closely during Anna Hazare's anti-graft agitation, Kejriwal said if she becomes chief minister, she will be like Manmohan Singh in the Congress party without a voice.

He also said that the former IPS officer was fit for police and not for chief minister's post. Kejriwal said he was sorry for Bedi as she has been "gagged" by the BJP.

Emphasising that it was "lives of Delhiites" who were facing corruption, high prices and issues of security which were at stake in this election, the 46-year-old bureaucrat-turned politician assured that like previous time, his party will reduce power tariff by half and come down hard on bribery.

Asked whether he will again resort to dharna if he becomes chief minister, Kejriwal said, "If need be I will do it again."

"Depending on the requirement of the situation, I will do anything -- discussion, debate or struggle," he said.

On the criticism that both he and Bedi used Hazare's movement as "political launchpad", he said it was for people to see that "one left chief ministership for Lokpal while the other one left Lokpal for chief ministership," in an apparent dig at Bedi.

Kejriwal said there has been a groundswell of support for AAP as people of Delhi want the party to be back at power to address their problems and grievances.

"We are very confident of coming to power. People of Delhi want us to serve them. We have a clear roadmap to make Delhi a truly global city and ensure welfare of all sections of the society," he said.

Asked about number of leaders including Shazia Ilmi leaving the party, Kejriwal said party has become stronger since the last elections as around 30,000 new volunteers have joined it in the last few months.

The former chief minister said if he comes to power, then his government will order through probe into finances of the private power distribution companies and initiate reform in the power sector.

He said enhancing women's security and coming down hard on corruption will be his immediate priorities if he comes to power.

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Delhi elections: Kiran Bedi joins BJP, to counter Kejriwal

New Delhi: Former Team Anna member Kiran Bedi on Thursday joined BJP and will contest the February 7 Delhi Assembly polls, a move seen as the party's effort to contain Aam Aadmi Party in the national capital. The 65-year old former IPS officer was inducted into the party fold in the presence of BJP President Amit Shah and Union ministers Arun Jaitley and Harsh Vardhan, triggering speculation that she may be in the race for chief ministership if BJP wins the polls. When asked whether she will be the party's chief ministerial candidate, Shah said party's Parliamentary Board will take a call on the issue after election results are out but added that her induction will "hugely strengthen" the Delhi unit.

He also announced that she will contest the polls but declined to answer whether she will be pitted against her former Team Anna colleague Arvind Kejriwal in the prestigious New Delhi constituency. "A decision about her constituency will be taken later." "Bedi's constructive contribution will play an important role in ensuring that BJP lives up to the expectation of the people in the election and in any future government" Shah told a press conference at the party's headquarters. Describing her as an able administrator who has been a crusader while in government and outside it, Jaitley said the party had been in touch with her for sometime and her joining it will make the party stronger. "She has experience in governance and enjoys a credible image. She is associated with certain values. She has been a crusader in government as well as outside it for a long time," he said welcoming her to BJP.

Bedi, in her speech, pitched her leadership credentials and said she knows "how to work and how to make others work". "I joined BJP due to the inspirational leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Delhi needs a strong, clear headed and stable government. We have to make it capital number one in the world," she said. Bedi thanked Modi, saying the PM's "inspirational leadership" has changed crores of Indians including her. "I wanted to sacrifice my entire life to social work. But he inspired me to join political life." However, contrary to expectations, there was no announcement from the BJP on whether actor-turned-politician Jaya Prada and former AAP leader Shazia Ilmi will be joining the party. The party is banking on Jaya Prada's glamour quotient to boost the party's chances, IANS reported, citing unnamed BJP sources.

 A former Samajwadi Party leader, Jaya Prada fought the 2014 Lok Sabha election as a Rashtriya Lok Dal candidate from Bijnor, but she lost. Former AAP legislator Vinod Kumar Binny too is likely to join the saffron party, according to reports. Meanwhile, another former AAP leader, Farhana, said she will be joining the saffron party within the next three days. "Now that the BJP is on the path of development, why should we not extend our help too? We will join the party in the next two to three days," Farhana told ANI. The BJP is likely to release its first list of candidates for Delhi assembly polls soon. The election committee of the BJP will meet in the Capital to discuss strategies for its campaign. The counting of votes in the Delhi elections will take place on February 10. In the last polls in Delhi in 2013, the BJP had bagged 31 seats in addition to one by its ally Shiromani Akali Dal, falling short of a simple majority in the 70-member assembly. The AAP had won in 28 seats and Congress got 8.

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